Rise of the Skulk
by Lord Farsight
Summary: The abduction of two young girls sent the world on brand new tracks, rewriting the future in an unexpected way. Two vixens will descend from the Clouds, and into the renascent Whirlpool. The sleeping Tides will rise again and join the Skulk. None shall forget the Uzumaki name. Never again. NarutoXHinataXHanabi, alive Kushina, and slightly OP fuinjutsu (blame my imagination).
1. Chapter 1

**_Author Note :_**_ Hello dear reader! If you are reading this, you took the wrong turn after Albuquerque, or the right one on . If you're in the first case, follow the arrow over there._

_Now, this is a challenge, issued to me by NYCDMan some time ago, I just took time to write a few chapters and plan things up a bit. Right now, I'm almost done with , chapter 7, but it will last waaay longer. I hope._

_Anyway, here's the challenge text. _

_The Gold & Silver Sisters Challenge:_

Summery: The Hyuuga kidnapping goes off without a hitch as both Hyuuga's are taken to Kumo (Hinata & Hanabi are twins in this story), then they get infused with the Kyuubi's chakura that was syphened off the original Gold & Silver brothers, after 10 years of intense training, they run into Team 7 on a mission to Frost Country, can Naruto convince them to come back to Konoha?

Paring: NarutoXHinataXHanabi

(Sakura and Sasuke bashing is welcome, but not nessisary)

Things to happen in the challenge:

Kushina is still alive, but in a coma, she still has a good amount of the Kyuubi's chakura inside her.

Since Hinata and Hanabi have the Kyuubi's chakura inside them, their reaction to him being the Main vessle is more...animalistic, they acknollege him as the "alpha" and are fiercly loyal to him

On Team 8, Hinata is replaced by Yakumo Kurama from the "Kurama Clan Filler Arc", however the event's leading to her parents death's never happened, her relationship with her sensei Kurenai is similar to Lee's relationship with Might Guy.

Neji's personality is very different in this story, since his father never died he never went under the belief that fate was inescapable and decided at birth, and is desperate to have his cousin's back, even if he has to fight all of Kumogakure to do it.

_I'll tell you immediatly, I took some liberty with the challenge, and there will be a minor crossover with the paper RPG Legend of the 5 Rings, but nothing too prominent._

_Now disclaimer, I don't own Naruto, yadda yadda, and onto the story!_

* * *

The man ran, he ran like his life depended on it, which was very much the case. Once again, he cursed himself for accepting this stupid mission, and he cursed his leader even more for giving it to him. He was running like all hell was on his heels, and that could be true considering that the parents of the twins he had under his arms were chasing after him. Abducting Hinata and Hanabi Hyuga, the three year old twins of the clan head, was definitely NOT the best mission to pick. In fact, he was now seriously considering having his brain checked. He had been running like hell for almost a day now, with no occasion to stop, and he had almost made it to the border between hot water and frost, he was almost in his country, once he reached Lightning, he would be somewhat safe. Then, he saw and heard something that gave him a boost. A gigantic owl, hooting, came down from the sky, flying near the canopy. Charging chakra into his feet, he jumped always higher, finally shooting past the top of the trees, and the owl swept under him, allowing him to land on it. The summon quickly took to the air and, looking above his shoulder, the man could see Hiashi Hyuga's hateful glare, and his wife's tear stained eyes. Then, he collapsed, panting hard. A hand landed on his shoulder, and he looked up to see the grinning face of a fellow Kumo shinobi.

"Good job, Raikage-sama will be pleased."

The Hyuga abduction became a major sore point between Kumo and Konoha. While Konoha was ready to go to war, the Fire Daimyo felt that doing so for two mere children was too much, and as such forbade it. Konoha, and the Hyuga in particular, were not happy. But Konoha was not the only village to react. Fearing for their bloodlines, every village refused to accept Kumo dignitaries or guests in their walls, and while the chunin exams were an exception, Kumo teams were always heavily monitored by ANBU. Kumo may have been one of the most powerful villages, without allies, they were in a difficult position.

The most notable consequence was seen in Water Country. Seeing what might be done to them, the bloodline clans were quick to tighten their bond with Kiri and were soon considered Kiri's most devoted defenders. When the Kaguya attacked, the clans answered with a swift and brutal counter-attack, slaughtering the clan to the last. In this condition, when Yagura suddenly became more bloodthirsty and seemed to try to raise discontent towards bloodline users, he was met with heavy resistance, and it wasn't long before an all out assault against him was organized. It was then discovered that he was manipulated. Quickly freed, Yagura joined the coup to chase their enemy, taking him down with him. Yagura, Yondaime Mizukage, went down in History as the leader of Kiri with the shortest reign, but as a hero nonetheless. Kiri didn't suffer through the Bloodline Purge and kept its place as one of the strongest villages, never realising just how much Yagura's sacrifice changed the world.

Following the incident, Konoha decided that, since they couldn't settle this affair on the battlefield, they would find ways to make Kumo pay. And so, each batch of Chunin hopefuls sent to the exams was trained to the bone, only the most hardened and merciless teams were sent, with one mission: slaughter as many Kumo genin as possible. The Hyuga and the Hokage agreed to give a small bonus for each Kumo headband the Konoha fighters brought back. The number of Kumo representatives to survive the exams plummeted, and often reached absolute zero when a Hyuga was part of the exams. No matter what Kumo tried, Konoha always won. When they tried to send disguised jonin or chunin, the Konoha jonin would immediately point out their rank and records, making Cloud look like fools, when they trained their students more, they found out that Konoha was already three steps ahead.

A now seriously considered just sending the girls back, but it wasn't an option anymore. When they were four, in an effort to ensure maximum durability, they had infused the girls with the chakra from Kyubi that was extracted from the Gold and Silver brothers, but the transfer went awry. The girls had screamed in pain throughout the whole ordeal, and A was pretty much certain he saw them losing consciousness several times only to be woken up by the pain. But that wasn't the most worrying features. Hanabi and Hinata had developed fox ears and a bushy fox tail each. It was a relief that they never went berserk. But it didn't mean there weren't problems.

Hinata and Hanabi were distrustful of Kumo in general and the male population in particular. They only tolerated two persons, Yugito Nii and Killer Bee. But even then, they were incredibly cautious around them, never completely letting their guard down. They had tried to brainwash them into thinking they were born in the Yotsuki clan, but it was an utter failure. What little memory they had of Konoha, they refused to let go. Even more worrying, they were easily the most dangerous ninja of their generation, dispatching all of their peers with two strikes top. And when it came to humiliation, they didn't stop at the academy, no; they targeted every part of the hierarchy. Paint-bombs placed in the Jonin lodge, entire squads of chunin having their shampoo switched with hair-dye, Anbu ambushed on their patrol routes and tied up in compromising positions, knock-out gas placed in his own office. What frightened A was probably the fact that they always managed to show just _how_ their prank could kill.

Danzo looked upon the arena with interest. After the Hyuga abduction, Hiruzen had pleasantly surprised him, placing a reward for each Kumo genin killed, and because of that, he had decided to help … in his own way. So, he had built the Gauntlet, an underground arena where promising students trained and fought, using standard ANBU gear, porcelain animal masks and bandana on their hair to conceal their identity. No killing move was allowed and a cadre of med-nin ensured that there wouldn't be casualties. At first, he thought it could help find some recruits for ROOT, but after seeing the records of the students leaving this arena … The first squad with one of his competitors to encounter opposition decimated their enemies in a matter of seconds. Those were genin from Iwa. Before the Rock jonin could understand what happened, his students were dead and the Leaf genin had distracted him enough to allow their teacher to land a killing blow. In the span of five minutes, a genin squad three months out of the academy had decimated a squad of Iwa genin with a year of experience.

From then on, Danzo had poured more and more resources into the Gauntlet. Even his ROOT were defeated in some instances. Of course, it was the youngest ROOT members that fought in the arena, but it was still impressive. And given the violent increase in quality seen in the Konoha genin, he realised the Gauntlet could prove more useful to Konoha than his ROOT could ever hope to be. From these facts, he drew the logical conclusion, sent his ROOT to rehabilitation, and dedicated himself fully to the Gauntlet. In the span of three years, it went from a miserable arena to a complete underground complex, with training grounds, armouries, a jutsu library, its own hospital, and a number of safe houses. Konoha's very own underground fortress. Of course, Hiruzen, no matter how soft he was, couldn't be blind to this enormous change. One day, while Danzo was going over the new students at the academy, Hiruzen had confronted him. It had taken some convincing, but in the end the aged Kage had agreed to let it run. He did not regret it. One student of the Gauntlet could turn a mediocre squad into a war machine, and now the gauntlet had been running for nine years. Konoha was stronger than ever, and this year's batch was one of the most promising and frighteningly powerful he had seen.

In the arena, smouldering craters covered the ground, two panting youth standing their ground. Taka and Kitsune, the two most powerful fighters to have ever entered the arena. Taka was powerful, precise, fast learning and ruthlessly efficient, his talent in ninjutsu was absolutely frightening and he used his chokuto with uncanny dexterity. Kitsune was tireless, determined, stubborn enough to deny death itself, had chakra reserves bordering on jonin, a talent in Fuinjutsu never seen since the Yondaime Hokage and used his bladed staff with practiced ease. His stamina allowed him to force his way through the most difficult trainings and while is chakra control wasn't the best he could reach exceptional level of control on a technique through muscle memory alone. These two had a heated rivalry and always tried to outdo each other.

"One of them will become Hokage. Don't you think, old friend?" Turning to the Sandaime Hokage, Danzo smirked. The aged kage took his time before answering.

"We both know that only one of them is interested in the hat."

"Yes, but it is the one with the biggest problem. Do you have an idea on how to solve that?"

"No, I don't really trust the Yamanaka with that, even Inoichi."

"Why?"

"Can you imagine the kind of trouble it would cause if it was to get out?"

Danzo nodded, then rose and announced the end of the match. A draw, once again to the displeasure of the public and the gamblers in particular. At first Danzo wanted these fights to be held discreetly, but he had soon found out that a small public would worm it's way into the darkness to witness the matches. What he couldn't stop, he decided to take advantage of, and soon the presence of public allowed him to have more funds for the Gauntlet, increasing the quality of the equipment given to the students. Moving down the stairs, Danzo intercepted the two fighters just before they reached their assigned locker area.

"You have been exceptional, even on your last match. Excellent job. Keep the masks, you earned them."

Both youth bowed. Keeping the masks given to them in the Gauntlet was an honour, a mark of respect from Danzo. He didn't give those easily, but they had earned it. For four years, they had fought in the arena, besting every opponent sent their way except for each other. Tomorrow, they would be assigned their jonin sensei, and Danzo was positive that they would pass; he had trained them well enough. As they left, they acknowledged each other with a nod before parting ways.

Danzo was a proud man, and the last nine years had done nothing to diminish that. The Gauntlet had increased drastically the success rate of the true genin test, going from 33% to an impressive 80%, reaching 100% when you only considered teams with a member of the Gauntlet. But he was no fool, he knew that these two's rivalry was fiercer than it should be, should they find each other's real identity, Taka would feel … insulted, to say the least. And now, they were bound to know so very soon, for they would be on the same team.

Kitsune stalked the dark corridors of the Gauntlet, peacefully making his way to the exit. For now, he still had control of their body, but soon Naruto would take over. He often felt dissatisfaction at their current predicament. Naruto was the main personality, and let's be honest, the poor guy didn't have a clue. He was loud, brash, obnoxious and wore orange. _Orange_, of all colours, he had to be enamoured with orange, the colour that only allows you to be camouflaged in the middle of lava! Not in a forest, not in an urban environment, no, lava only! It maddened him, but he had no way to change Naruto. If there was one thing he would give his brighter self, it was that he was stubborn.

With a sigh, Kitsune thought back to how he was given life. During his life, Naruto had locked away everything that he considered 'bad.' That included everything that increased the number or the intensity of the glares he received. As a result, he had locked away most of his anger, his ability to hold grudges, any murderous impulse, but also his smarts and talents in an effort to stop the teachers from hating him, and he had recently added anything remotely lust-related to the mix. In short, Kitsune was all that Naruto was not. When Naruto had entered the Gauntlet, he had let loose of all those limitations, protected by the anonymity of the mask. But as soon as the mask fell, he would deny it was him, he would refuse to admit that he and the person with the mask were one and the same. With time, the mask had gained a personality on it's own, giving birth to Kitsune, a darker version of himself. But for all his might, Kitsune felt incomplete, and strived to convince Naruto to merge and finally be whole, but he refused fiercely to acknowledge him as a part of his mind. Luckily, his fight against Mizuki had opened his eyes, and Naruto had taken steps towards the merging. Reaching the exit, Kitsune took one last breath, closed his red slitted eyes, and removed the mask.

Naruto exhaled slowly. He still wasn't used to the transition. Before, when he considered Kitsune another person, he just blacked out and found himself in some dreamlike state where he witnessed everything he did with dispassionate eyes, but since he admitted that Kitsune was a part of him, it was all clearer, and the transition felt more like moving back to the front. 'Moving back to the front' didn't even begin to describe how it felt, but it was the closest he could think of. Shaking his thought out of his head, he quickly returned to his flat and changed back into his orange jumpsuit. Now that Kitsune had more influence on him, he was seriously considering discarding it and using those clothes Kitsune had purchased while having control of his body for a day. They seemed practical enough and were definitely badass-looking. But he had other things to do tonight. Looking at the moon, he estimated the time to be around 10:30 at night. Good, the round in that part of the hospital had passed and wouldn't come back for a long time.

He ran along the rooftops, jumping effortlessly across large streets and avenues. Reaching the hospital, he stuck to the wall using chakra, something he still wouldn't be able to do if he still denied Kitsune his real importance. Looking through the window, he was pleased to see that he had reached exactly the intended window. Using chakra to stick his hand to the glass, he made it slid a bit; enough to place his hand inside and slid it completely open. He then slipped inside and closed the window. Taking his sit next to the head of the bed, he looked forlornly at the person in the bed. His mother, Kushina Uzumaki. From what the Old Man had told him, she had been in a coma for the last thirteen years. He would come to see her twice a week, always telling her how life was going, often crying in her shoulder. Even though she never answered, it was still comforting. He sometimes wondered if she really was his mother and not some stranger the Old Man had picked up to escape his questions. After all, she didn't look that much like him, with her long flowing red hair. But even if it was a lie, he had someone to talk to, and she didn't seem to have any visit other than himself.

"Hey mom. Sorry I didn't come last time, I kinda got tricked into stealing the Forbidden Scroll for a traitorous teacher. Of course, I kicked his ass, shadow clones and its wonders. Meh, anyway, I managed to graduate, so I'm a ninja. Gonna get my team tomorrow. I got my last fight in the Gauntlet, Taka again, that stuck up prick really is a pain. Yeah, I finally realized that Kitsune's just a part of me, so I realized that those were my fights all along. *sigh* I wonder what I team I'll get." Silence settled over the room. Naruto often wondered what his mother would think of him if she met him. Would she be proud? Ashamed? How would she feel knowing her son was a schizophrenic jinchuriki? With yet another sigh, he thought back on the night he had earned the right to be a ninja and began to tell the tale to his comatose mother.

"_YOU ARE THE KYUBI!"_

_With a mighty heave, Mizuki threw the shuriken towards him, and Naruto could only watch in shock. Time seemed to slow down as the shuriken began to close the distance._

'_I told you the Kyubi was sealed in our guts, I told you we were one and the same and I told you to NEVER trust this guy, but would you believe me? Nooo, of course not. I guess I'll have to clean up this mess!'_

'_Stay put, it's my fight. Just give me access to your moves, you should be able to since you say you're a part of me.'_

'_Better yet, let's fight together. As one.'_

'_Yeah, as one.'_

_His eyes turned purple and slitted as he dashed forward, passing by a shocked Iruka, and ducked under the shuriken. Shooting his arm up, he threw it through the hole of the shuriken and grabbed the weapon, stopping it in its track. Getting up, he looked calmly at Mizuki, assessing him like Kitsune had been taught to._

"_Kitsune was right, you are a threat. I guess it's up to … us … to put you under control and deliver you to T&I."_

"_Kitsune? Y-you are … THE Kitsune? O-oh god …"_

_Fear made it's way upon his face and he threw the other Shuriken, far faster in hope of breaching the youth's guard, but it was for naught. Naruto simply jumped above the flying metal star and grabbed the circle in its middle, stopping it and taking control of it. Mizuki looked frightened, clearly searching an escape route, but that only caused Naruto to laugh harshly._

"_I can outrun ANBU and feel their ambushes; do you really think that YOU can escape me?"_

_Mizuki tensed, and decided to try his chance up close. Taking a kunai in each hand, he charged him. As he closed in, he saw something that made him pause; Naruto was using chakra to spin the shuriken in his hands like two saw blades. This pause proved to be his undoing, as Naruto charged in and cut both his arms before he could react. Then, dropping the two spinning blades, he jumped and kicked him square in the chest, causing Mizuki to fly back and hit a tree, hard enough to loose consciousness. Naruto sighed wearily as he turned to look at Iruka._

_The scarred chunin looked at him in awe, completely shocked at the performance of his worst student._

"_N-Naruto … how did you do that? If you're so powerful, then why were you the dead last? And … are you really Kitsune? One of the best two fighters of the Gauntlet?"_

"_Alright, let's see. *sigh* First, I used chakra to levitate the blades in my hand and put them in movement. Second and third at the same time, let's say that … Kitsune is kind of a second personality. He told me 'bout that for a long time but I never listened. He's always pestering me 'bout merging, whatever that is. Anyway, while I still denied that he was part of me, I couldn't use his skills, but now I have some access to it."_

_ANBU suddenly fell from the trees, surrounding them. Naruto sighed tiredly._

"It was hell to explain everything to them, but in the end I managed to escape this mess scot-free. So here I am, with a headband, and wondering just who the hell my team mates will be. I just hope Sasuke won't be one of them, he's a real pain. And I'm beginning to wonder if Sakura's as awesome as I thought, after all I was basically a dunce before … or maybe I'm still one, I'll have to see." He said softly. "I'll see you soon mom, gotta go and grab some shut eye." With that, he went to the window, opened it and slipped outside before closing behind him and running to his apartment.

Naruto walked into the classroom in utter silence. He still had his orange jumpsuit but felt slightly less comfortable wearing it, so he tied the jacket around his waist. He didn't really felt like drawing attention today so he just walked up the stairs to take a seat in the back of the class; however life is a bitch, so someone noticed him, and that someone … happened to be Sasuke.

"Dobe, this is for those that graduated."

Sasuke didn't particularly disliked the blond dobe, it was just that, if he was mean to him he would get pointers from experienced ninja and some equipments from some stores, so it became a habit. Besides, the blond was so clueless that it actually was fun. But today, today it was different; Naruto simply looked at him dispassionately before resuming his journey up the stairs, as if he wasn't worth his time. This infuriated him of course, Sasuke hated being ignored, but he kept control of his anger, he wouldn't let the dobe have any form of superiority over him. However, his fangirls weren't about to let that pass and began yelling at Naruto for being disrespectful to Sasuke, and Sakura and Ino entered the class just at this very moment.

Of course, Sakura being the dedicated Sasuke-worshipper she was, immediately went to Naruto, demanding that he apologized and answered Sasuke's question, ready to deliver bodily harm should he refuse. The thing is … it didn't go as planned. Since Naruto still hadn't answered, she, quite gleefully, decided to hit him, but as she sloppily swung her arm at him, he simply sidestepped the attack before driving a fist into her belly. The whole class went silent, looking in shock at them. They all knew that Naruto had a crush on Sakura, yet here they were, with his fist buried in her midsection being the only thing keeping her standing.

"Sakura, first and last warning. You try to hit me, I hit you. You actually hit me, I tear you a new one. Clear?"

His voice was casual, like he was talking about the weather and not about beating up his supposed crush. He removed his fist from Sakura's guts, letting her fall on her knees. He looked around the class, seeing that all eyes were on him. Not wanting to bother with an explanation, he simply jabbed his thumb at his forehead, the nail lightly cliking against the metal of his headband. Then, he simply walked back to his seat and resumed his looking into space. Sakura, thoroughly shocked, stood up shakily and walked down the stairs of the classroom, looking weakly at the seat next to Sasuke, only to see it occupied by an uneasy Ino. Defeated, she settled for the closest seat at her disposal.

When Iruka entered the classroom, he was shocked at the eerie silence that reigned in it. Frowning slightly, he made his way to Shino and asked the boy about what happened. The Aburame heir whispered a quick explanation that just added to Iruka's shock before the teacher thanked him and made his way to the front of the class. Clearing his throat, he gained the attention of the class, stopping most of them from sending worried glances towards Naruto. He gave a little speech about the life they were about to enter, how he knew they would be splendid shinobi and how much faith he had in them. Meanwhile, Naruto was scanning the class, looking for other pupils of the Gauntlet.

'_Toshi is probably Tora (tiger), Tenzo would be Tourou (mantis), Shizuka is probably Hato (dove) and I'd say Akito is Kuma (bear). And of course, there is Sasuke, the ever so arrogant Taka (hawk).'_

He was still troubled by his reaction to Sakura's attempt at violence, he knew it couldn't be reflexes alone, he had managed suppress them before, when he was still in denial, but this time, he hadn't simply blocked or evaded the punch, he had retaliated. _'It was you, am I right?'_

'_For your own good. That girl's a complete and utter bitch, and you'll see it in time. And honestly, can you tell me it didn't feel good?'_

'_Heh, guess not. Admit it, your dislike for Sakura was one of the first things you pushed to the merging.'_

'_Best way to make sure you stop getting us cranial trauma by asking her out.'_

'_Cranial trauma? You serious?'_

'_And where do you think all those headaches were coming from? That bitch hits us like we're some concrete wall.'_

Focusing back on Iruka's voice, Naruto heard that he had begun announcing the teams and was currently at team 6.

"… next, team seven will be composed of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura …" A loud cheer and equally loud whine of displeasure was heard as Ino and Sakura, last two girls without teams, expressed their opinion on the matter. "SILENCE! Good. Now, as I was saying, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto." Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but the sound of shattering concrete stopped her. Everyone turned to the back of the class to see that Naruto had punched the wall … And left a crater in it. Removing his hand, Naruto looked at the blood on his knuckles, visibly annoyed. With a sigh, he sat back down and motioned to Iruka to go on, completely ignoring the slightly quivering Sakura.

"All right, team eight will be Aburame Shino, Iuzuka Kiba and Kurama Yakumo." Naruto perked up a bit. He knew a bit about Yakumo, she was part of the Kurama clan, a clan of powerful Genjutsu users. From what he (Kitsune) knew, the Kurama were currently having trouble keeping their bloodline active with Yakumo being it's last bearer, and many hushed whispers talked about the disappearance of the clan. But the Kurama were a proud lot, they refused to be dismissed as simply a dieing clan, and many hopes were placed on Yakumo, the heiress of the clan.

"And finally, team ten will be Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji and Yamanaka Ino." Of course, the Golden Boar groaned while Sakura taunted her, but that didn't interest Naruto in the slightest. Iruka then announced a prolonged lunch break and advised them to get to know better their team-mates and think of ways to impress their teachers. Of course, Sasuke stalked out of the room to eat alone, and Naruto honestly didn't give a damn, he simply watched people leave the class room, and as soon as he was alone with Iruka, took out a scroll, unrolled it and unsealed a lunch. Iruka looked at him in surprise, not really expecting this to happen.

"Naruto … Since when do you seal your lunch? And since when do you eat something other than ramen?"

Indeed, it was a bowl of rice with slices of fish that was unsealed, along with a pair of chopsticks, so Naruto answered while unsealing the smaller bowl of sauce.

"Kitsune prepared that … a while back, it was just in stasis in the scroll. Anyway, I'm going to use those a lot more from now on. It will probably cause a shock to everyone, but I don't give a shit."

"You don't eat with your team?"

"If you can call it that. Sakura hates my guts for no apparent reason, and Sasuke is just Taka from the Gauntlet, so it'll be hell. I'll try to negotiate a truce, but I'm not sure he'll accept."

With that, Naruto began to dig into his bowl.

The lunch break was over and the genin had gathered in the classroom, organizing themselves by teams. Naruto was happy to let the seat next to Sasuke to Sakura and be done with it, as long as he didn't talk to her he had relative peace. Iruka came into the classroom accompanied by Danzo Shimura. Naruto thought back to the conversation they had during lunch.

_Naruto was calmly eating his food, Iruka had left the room to go grab something to eat and had left him alone, something that was perfectly fine by him. The door slid open suddenly, causing Naruto to raise his gaze. In the door way stood Danzo Shimura. The old man slowly made his way to the seat next to him and gave him an amiable smile._

"_Naruto-kun, I need to talk to Kitsune, could you please tell him to come?"_

"_He's listening."_

_Danzo narrowed his eyes at him. "So, the merging has begun."_

"_Yup. So, what's the stuff you wanna talk about Danzo-sama?"_

"_As you know, the Hyuga are the only clan to allow their member to fight in the Gauntlet. We need to change that. You class has a high proportion of clan heirs, so if we prove that fighters from the Gauntlet can surpass the best the clans have to offer, they will enrol their children into the Gauntlet and Konoha will be strengthened."_

"_Aye, it will be done. And don't worry, when you get a Hokage made in Gauntlet, you'll be sure to have an increase in frequentation." Said Naruto, absolutely serious. Danzo smirked slightly. "I have no doubt we will."_

"Alright class, settle down! Danzo-sama here has some things to tell you all."

"Thank you Iruka-san. Good day children. I hope you are having a good day, it is, after all, the beginning of a new life for you. You are now ninja of the Leaf, and all have new responsibilities, some more than others. You are now adults and will be treated as such; you will have to become independent, both in your training and your life. This class will be especially watched, for the future leaders of no less than 5 of our clans are among you, and one of you may very well establish his own clan." At this point, Danzo's gaze fell on Naruto, and while it seemed casual, Naruto knew it was anything but that. Silently, he mouthed 're-establish,' causing Danzo to smile slightly. "Enormous responsibilities are on your shoulders, some of you will even have to manage your clan's whole possessions. The village has high expectations for all of you and will invest a lot of money and time into making you fine shinobi, you must repay it with your loyalty and sweat. Do this, and you will have a safe place where you will be able to raise your family." With a last sweeping gaze and a nod, Danzo stepped back.

"Thank you Danzo-sama!" Said Iruka. "Now, your Jonin sensei should arrive soon!"

And indeed, he had barely closed his mouth that the door opened to reveal a purple, long-haired jonin in standard outfit with a katana strapped to her back.

"Team five, we're going."

As the members of the team rose and left, Naruto looked at who was leaving. As they passed near him, he spoke.

"Good luck Kuma."

Everyone in the room stopped and looked at him in surprise, but not as much as the members of the Gauntlet. Akito then managed to get a hold of himself, and bowed. "Thank you Kitsune-sempai."

Of course, now every one in the room that didn't know of the Gauntlet was confused beyond reason. Sakura, who had been about to make a snarky remark about Naruto could only watch in surprise as team five left the room while Sasuke looked intently at Naruto. Three more teams left the room, and Naruto wished good luck to Hato and Tora. Then, the door opened and in walked one of Konoha's most powerful jonin, Hatake Kakashi. He was rumoured to have been in a deep depression for years, but it seemed being a teacher had done wonders for him.

"Team seven! Meet me on the roof in five!"

He disappeared in a swirl of leaves and Naruto simply stood up and made his way for the door. As he was about to exit, he heard Tourou's voice.

"Kitsune-sempai, good luck."

Naruto turned his head and smiled at him. "Thanks, you too Tourou." Then he exited the room and made is way to the roof, feeling Sakura and Sasuke following him, the latter fuming silently about being in the rear. When they reached the balcony on the roof, they took their seats, with both boys at an extremity again. Kakashi was practically beaming at them; he seemed to be in an extremely good mood today.

"Welcome my cute little genin!" He said, getting a grunt out of Sasuke, a protest out of Sakura … and a loud laugh out of Naruto.

"Ha, I like that one! Think you could use it all the time sensei? It sure would make the D-ranks a bit less dull!"

Kakashi eye-smiled. "Maybe Naruto, maybe, it will depend on how good you do. Now, let's reassure you all, I know what I'm doing, I've had three teams already, they all made chunin within a year and my first team even reached jonin! One of them is even taking on students from your class, so don't worry, you're in good hands. Now, let's get to know each other shall we?" He said with his eternal eye-smile.

"I'll go first. I am Hatake Kakashi, jonin of Konoha. I like many things, but mostly having friends and my beloved Icha Icha, I dislike egoistical persons and I absolutely loath traitors." He said the last part completely seriously, looking at them dead in the eyes. Naruto noticed he spent a bit more time on him and felt compelled to answer.

"Kakashi-sensei, if you're wondering if I'll ever turn psycho, the answer is no, I'm far past the point of madness." That got all those around him to look at him curiously, wondering what he meant. Naruto then motioned to him to go on.

"All right, we'll talk about that later. As I as saying, I loath traitors. My dream is, currently, to make you three some wonderful ninja, just like my three other teams. My hobbies are mostly reading. Alright, your turn sunshine." He said eye-smiling to Sasuke and causing the only blond present to smile.

"Hn. I am Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like many things, and I dislike a lot. I don't have any hobby. I don't have a dream, more of an ambition … to kill a certain man."

Kakashi frowned slightly, this would certainly make things more complex. "Alright, now your turn bubblegum!"

Sakura twitched at the nickname but answered nonetheless. "I am Haruno Sakura. I like …" she blushed while looking at Sasuke, who pointedly ignored her. "My hobbies are …" Once again, she looked at Sasuke, giggling a bit this time. "My dream is …" Another gaze toward Sasuke, this time with a hopeful smile and a slightly larger blush. "And I hate Ino-pig and Naruto!"

"That was laaaaaame."

Sakura turned to Naruto, enraged, but the blonde kept talking. "You do realize you admitted you have absolutely no motivation? You're here just to get in Sasuke's pants and, sorry to be blunt, but I have better chances at this than you do, and he's STRAIGHT, that's saying something. In case you didn't realize, the Uchiha are a clan of warriors, if you wanna become a pampered housewife, you should have set your sights on a civilian."

"What the hell do you know you no-good orphan!?"

"Smooth Sakura, real smooth. In case you didn't notice, Sasuke's an orphan too."

Casting a brief glance to Sasuke's twitching eyebrow, Sakura wisely decided to shut up.

"Alright! My turn, yes?" Kakashi nodded. "Right! My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I like ramen, fuinjutsu, Old Man Hokage, and I guess I'll have to expend the list when I discover new things. I dislike people who judge others or blame them for things out of their control. My hobbies would be calligraphy, getting payback through pranks and a bit of meditation from time to time. I've got two big dreams, first: becoming Hokage." His boisterous, joyful tone suddenly subsided, a more thoughtful and almost melancholic tone taking its place. "My second dream is, one day, to go to Whirlpool and pay my respects to my ancestors."

"Alright, you're an interesting bunch. We'll meet tomorrow at 9:00 at training ground 3 to take a little test. What you passed was a 'pre-test' of sorts, now we're going to see if you really have what it takes to be a shinobi of Konoha. Don't worry, the success rate is good, you'll probably pass." He said with an eye smile.

"We'll see." Answered Naruto, suddenly serious again. "Taka, let's face it, we hate each other, but we're gonna be on the same team, so let's make a truce."

"Hn. What do you have in mind?"

"We work and train together, but we don't interact more than that. So?"

"I'm in."

Kakashi nodded appreciatively, satisfied to see that they would be willing to set their differences aside to work together. However, when he looked at Sakura's revolted face, he knew she would be a handful, even though right now she was keeping her mouth shut.

"Alright, Sasuke I don't need you anymore, you can go. Sakura, could you wait down the stairs please? I'll have a talk with Naruto and I'd like to talk to you afterwards."

"Um, alright sensei."

The Uchiha had already left with a burst of speed, leaving the pink-haired one to slowly walk down the stairs in silence, dejected that her crush didn't want to talk to her.

"Okay, Naruto, what was that comment about being 'far past madness'?"

"You know of Kitsune of the Gauntlet, right?"

"Yes, I know of your identity in the Gauntlet."

"More like second personality." Said Naruto causing Kakashi's eyes to widen in shock. "Wanna meet him? He's a bit on the snarky side, but he's an okay guy."

"Naruto … are you telling me that … you are talking to a Kitsune in your head?"

"Don't worry, he's not the fox. Let me show you."

Crossing his fingers, he summoned a shadow clone on the bench next to him. The clone opened his eyes to reveal that they were red and slitted, causing Kakashi to tense.

"Hmm, nice trick, good idea. So, here's our teach, huh? Well hi, I'm Kitsune, Naruto's darkest side so to say. And don't worry, I'm 100% human made, Fluffy can attest to that."

"Fluffy?"

"Yup, no end of fun calling that wet fox Fluffy." Kitsune then proceeded to explain his birth to a dumbfounded Kakashi. "And that's about it. Since we're on the way to merging, we can say we're past madness, don't you think?"

"Hmm, well, so it seems. Though I admit I feel a bit … queasy, about a schizophrenic jinchuriki."

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Yes, do you really want me to keep using 'cute little genin'?"

Naruto and Kitsune looked at each other before grinning maniacally.

"Heck yes!" They said as one. "Have you seen the look on their faces? It was hilarious!" Continued Naruto.

"Okay, I'll see about that, you can go now. Tell Sakura to get up here on your way down."

"Sure thing."

Kitsune dispelled and Naruto left for his apartment, signalling to Sakura to climb back up as he passed her. The pinkette's lips drew a thin line, obviously not too very pleased about being ordered by the perceived dobe. As she reached the balcony once again, she sat in front of her teacher.

"Alright Sakura, I think we have a lot of things to talk about. First and foremost, you will have to dampen your dislike of Naruto if we are to work together."

"But why? He's a complete loser who will only pull Sasuke-kun and I down! He shouldn't even be a ninja! He has no talent whatsoever, he is loud and obnoxious, he wears orange, and he is just plain dumb! I'm not the only one to think that, everyone does!"

"Oh boy, it will be a pain. *sigh* Alright, here we go. Naruto isn't a 'loser' as you so kindly put it, and you will soon discover just how wrong you are. You will also see very soon that he isn't as weak as you think he is, a recent … traumatic … event caused his potential to unlock in full. You noticed he addressed Sasuke as Taka correct? That is because they fought in an underground complex that train willing academy students. Naruto is Kitsune, and Sasuke is Taka, they are both the strongest students to have come out of there, so don't worry about him pulling you down, more probably, he will pull you up." Kakashi ignored the disbelieving look his female student was giving him and went on.

"Now, Hokage-sama himself think Naruto should be a ninja, do you think you know better than him?" Kakashi left a pause, enjoying slightly seeing his student squirm. "I thought so. As for the loud part, you must admit you weren't exactly the most discreet with your voice. And lastly, think by yourself. Have you tried to get to know him before passing judgement?"

"I don't need to, I heard enough about him."

"So you blindly trust what others say and never try to see for yourself? And you want to be a ninja? If such is the case, go back to the academy, even better, drop out of the program completely. Ninja must think by themselves. People you consider trustworthy may be biased on a topic and try to pass that onto you."

"Hmph, then why is the ENTIRE village saying this?"

"Not the entire village. Besides, number isn't a guarantee. How many of these people know him? The answer is … none. Now, I will give you a chance, but if your behaviour jeopardizes the team, I will have to request a replacement."

Sakura nodded her head slowly, not really wanting to lose her spot on Sasuke's team. With that, Kakashi dismissed her and returned to his apartment. When he finally reached his apartment, and unceremoniously collapsed on the couch. "Oh man, that's probably going to be both my worst and my best team."

* * *

_**Author Note:**_

_Aaand done. So, what do you think?_

_Ah, another thing. For the story advancement, I will need some clans, so don't hesitate to send me your OC clans, or any reasonably badass OC, just don't send me the description of a god or a Brotherhood of Epicness._

_If you have a clan to submit, I'll need the name of the clan, their specialty or particularities, and eventual bloodline. If you have a crest, some notable members (especially the clan head), or the zone where they reside, it would be appreciated._

_That's it! I hope to have plenty of answers, and see you next time!_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author Note:** And here is the second chapter of Rise of the Skulk, where you will learn a bit more on the Hyuga sisters, and be introduced to one of the main features of this fic._

_I hope this story will recieve some more love, because my pervy story really is more popular than this one, and it is somewhat irritating. What is it, is the summary not good?_

_Anyway, here's chapter 2._

* * *

Yugito Nii was a strong woman. She was one of the two strongest Kumo jonin to ever be, only surpassed by Killer Bee and the Raikage, and she was without a doubt the strongest kunoichi in the history of Kumo, and that was WITHOUT the Nibi. With her lifelong partner, she was a powerhouse, surpassing even A in terms of raw chakra output and firepower. But there were still things that made her wish she became a pastry cook like she wanted to be when she was a kitten. A good example of such things would be the pranks pulled by the Infernal Duo, Kumo's very own Night Vixens as they extravagantly decided to name themselves, and as their legal guardian, she was faced with them far more often than she'd like. With a sigh, she stopped in front of Mabui.

"What did they do this time, paint bombed another shop? Replaced ration bars with concentrated hot pepper? Or did they hid a gas bomb in A's office … again?"

"None of these. Go in, he'll explain."

With another heavy sigh, Yugito stepped into the room, bowed to her leader and took her seat next to her charges. They both wore identical clothing, meaning black sandals, black pants, black short-sleeved shirts and cream coloured long vests on top of it. The main difference between the foxy twins was the hair. Hanabi's hair was kept into a hime cut having a ponytail expending out of the back while Hinata's was just long flowing hair, both reaching their mid-back. They looked at A and Yugito innocently, but the swishing of their tails left no doubt. They were thrilled; they had once again executed some prank, and a big one it seemed.

"Alright Raikage-sama, what did they do this time?"

"They littered the ANBU patrol routes with traps, they disabled no less than a quarter of the ANBU corp before we understood what happened. We had a breach of security of major importance for four hours last night. And if that wasn't enough, they then disrobed the knocked out ANBU and tied them up in compromising positions and left them in some of the most frequented streets of the village."

Yugito's first impulse was to bang her head on a wall. She looked over them, and saw that the sisters looked indeed pleased with themselves.

"Alright young ladies, what do you have to say for yourselves?"

"They had it coming." Said Hinata. "Yeah, they were trying to peep on us in our bathroom." Added Hanabi. "So we had to get revenge."

"By disabling a quarter of our ANBU forces?"

"Not our fault if they're amateurs." Answered Hanabi. "Yes, if they worked correctly they would have seen the traps, they left their guard down inside the village and they paid for it."

Yugito could see that A was struggling to stop himself from slamming his head on his desk and burst into tears.

"Why are you acting like that? This behaviour isn't worthy of members of the Yotsuki clan!"

A quickly realised that tiredness had caused him to say the old automated answer that always infuriated them. Their faces turned into a snarl as anger took hold of them.

"We are not members of the Yotsuki clan, we are Hyuga! You and your clan are those responsible for our abduction! We are not part of your clan, and never will be!" Yelled Hanabi.

"My sister is correct." Supplied Hinata in a cold tone. "We are Hyuga, and always will be, the Byakugan is proof of that."

A tensed. He hated to be reminded of his mistake, and the sisters made sure to force him to face it at every occasion they got. And they made sure to have many such occasions. With a sigh, A slumped in his chair.

"And what would you have me do? Send you back to Konoha? Remember that the Kyubi killed many of their own, anything fox related will be viewed with distrust at best, and there is a high probability that the Hyuga would brand you with that seal they use to keep the Branch family in line."

"We'd choose limited servitude and a chance at life over a future of rapes and forced pregnancies." Answered Hanabi bluntly.

A cringed as Yugito sent a glare his way. "Listen, I realise it was a huge mistake, but you are now genin of Kumo, and I can't correct my mistakes if you keep acting like that."

Both sisters looked at him intently now, their full attention on him, along with a very curious Yugito who wondered what her leader had in mind.

"I can't say too much, just know that if your team acts exemplarily enough, you'll be able to choose who you marry and where you and your children will live."

Hanabi and Hinata looked at each other and nodded before turning back to the mountain of a man.

"Very well, we will stop causing trouble." Said Hinata softly. "At least for now. May we retire please? The last day of the academy was … taxing." The smile on her face made A groan. _'Kami-sama help me, they made one last prank, they will kill me with paperwork alone.'_

"Yes, go, and leave me to deal with the mountain of paperwork you caused once again."

Satisfied grins made their way to the sisters' faces as they rose from their seats and left the room, sauntering happily toward the exit. Yugito watched them leave before turning toward her superior.

"If I may, what exactly do you plan?"

"Get them to chunin as fast as possible and shove them into Konoha's hands with a long lasting diplomatic mission. They cause far too much havoc in Kumo."

"Why not tell them directly?"

"If they knew just how much I want to send them back to the Leaf they'd make my life an even bigger hell, and I can live without that."

Yugito nodded in understanding before rising to her feet, bowing and leaving to return to her house.

* * *

Hinata and Hanabi got out of the bathroom together after cleaning themselves, both wearing white bathrobes and leaving their hair free. Their final prank had taken a long time to set up, especially given its specifications. They wanted a prank that wouldn't activate for at least three months, and one that couldn't be traced back to them.

It had been hard, but they had managed it. They had found an insect that had a very interesting particularity. It was a kind of fly with a hatching time of up to four months depending on the conditions, and the interesting thing was that it looked a hell lot like a type of Thunder Wasp that was known for it's deadly venom, it was guaranteed to cause chaos at the academy, and since these things were notoriously impossible to control, no one could blame them. An interesting bonus was that the old ape that was the Raikage would be on the look out for the prank, and that would stress him to no end.

Hinata chuckled softly, causing her sister to raise her eyebrow quizzically.

"Sister, how do you think the males of this village would react if they knew we are taking our showers together?"

Hanabi smiled amusedly. "They'd probably try even harder to find a way in there and try to join us. Good thing they don't know about it."

"Yes, it is good indeed. Now, let us go to bed, some rest will do us a world of good."

"Yeah, let's sleep."

They shed their bathrobes, Hanabi enjoying some moments of vanity as she looked at her body in the mirror, then they picked their nightwear, large sweat pants and equally large shirts, before slipping together in their bed. There, they held onto each other, like they did for years, then lightly brushed their lips together. Not a full kiss, but enough to tell themselves their first kiss wasn't stolen if such a thing was to happen.

"I hope we'll see Dream-kun tonight too." Said Hanabi, somewhat childishly.

"Me too sister, me too." Answered Hinata, with longing in her voice.

Then, as the sun set, they fell asleep in each other's arms, wishing for a better life.

* * *

"_C-come on girls, mom just left!"_

"_Another reason to go on Dream-kun, who knows when she'll come back!"_

"_Yes, we must make the most of it. *giggle* Don't you like it?"_

"_Th-that's not the problem! It's private!"_

"_So you do like it!"_

"_Hmm, I think I'll use my mouth now!"_

"_Wh-what? What are you- ooooh damn."_

"_I think Dream-kun likes it sister! Come on Dream-kun, don't they look nice? You can lick them you know?"_

"_I … I … Oh to hell!"_

"_Hmm, yes, that's it Dream-kun, hmm, you're finally getting into it."_

"_hmm, you sure taste good."_

"_Hmm, thank you Dream-kun. Ooh, you do know how to use your tongue, hmnaah!"_

"_Hmm, so does your sis. *grunt* Shit, I'm gonna … aaaah!"_

"_Hmm *gulp* Yummy. Now, the main dish?"_

"_Oh heck yeah! Now foxy ladies who's goin' first?"_

* * *

Naruto woke up with a start. _'What the HELL was that dream? They never went so far before! Well, looks like puberty hit.'_ With a sigh, Naruto rose to his feet before looking down and noting that his not-so-little-anymore friend was standing at attention. With a sigh, he went to take care of his morning routine, hoping to put his mind on something else.

These two fox girls had begun to appear in his dreams when he was six for apparently no reason. For his 'mother' he could understand, she had appeared after his first visit to her with the Old Man, on his eighth birthday, but for those girls he had absolutely no explanation.

'_Yo Kitsune, any idea as for why I have pervy dreams about fox girls?'_

'_Nope, but I'm definitely keeping that memory where I can reach it! Best dream ever.'_

'_You'll share?'_

'_We're the same guy, sharing with yourself isn't really possible, but the memory will be at your disposal.'_

'_Sweet.'_

Finishing his routine, Naruto set out for the training ground. He had decided to let go of the orange pants, choosing black pants instead, but keeping his jacket tied around his waist. Walking slowly towards the training grounds, he noticed the way people were looking at him, disbelief and hatred. They couldn't believe he had been made a ninja, they felt outraged that such a thing was allowed. Not that he cared anyway. One particularly stupid civilian that enjoyed bullying him decided to step into his path, blocking his way. Naruto eyed him lazily and talked before the idiot had the chance to open his mouth, effectively wiping the smug smirk from the man's face.

"You do realise I can have you arrested for interfering with shinobi affair, right? Yes, I can do it, any civilian interfering with shinobi business for no good reason is automatically suspected of treason and sent over to T&I. You sure you wanna spend two hours with Mitarashi Anko just for the thrill of bothering me a bit?"

The man seemed to waver, shock written all over his face. Naruto then sidestepped him and went on his merry way, leaving all the passer-by shocked. He quickly reached the training ground and found his teacher and male team-mate engaged in a heated argument, and he honestly didn't give a damn. Finally, Kakashi abandoned, at least for now, whatever they fought over and after noticing him, made his way over to him.

"Yup sensei?"

"I'm sorry, but it seems you will fail because of your team-mates. Sakura hates your guts for no good reason and Sasuke is a loner without even the smallest notion about teamwork."

Sasuke, still in hearing range, growled. He hated the concept that HE, the prodigy, would be holding back the DOBE. It was ridiculous, and insulting.

"Mah, don't be so negative sensei. Sasuke and I got an arrangement yesterday, I know he'll abide by the terms, and if he is willing enough to work as a team, Sakura will follow like a good lil' puppy."

"Naruto, I've seen other teams like that. *sigh* They always end up bad."

"All the more reason to become chunin as fast as possible, that way we won't have to endure each other's presence longer than necessary."

Kakashi nodded sceptically, making his doubts about the future of the team clearly known. Sakura chose just that moment to appear, and of course immediately ran to Sasuke's side and began acting like they were almost a couple … With Sasuke passionately ignoring her. With yet another sigh, Kakashi clapped his hands once, gaining their attention.

"Alright, time to begin the test." He got out an alarm clock and put it on top of a small log. "It's set to ring at noon, so you have three hours to try and impress me. Here are the rules: If you impress me enough, I pass you individually, if you fail to impress me, you go back to the academy." He then got out two little bells. "These babies here are free passes. You manage to get a bell, you can pass, even if you didn't impress me."

Sakura was, of course, certain she wouldn't need the bells and silently celebrating the fact that Naruto would be sent back to the academy. Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other. The Uchiha raised and eyebrow, asking silently if the Uzumaki thought there was something fishy too, Naruto nodded slightly. Kakashi saw the exchange and wondered if maybe he was wrong.

"Now, come at me with the intent to kill, you won't manage anything otherwise."

"But, Sensei, we could hurt you!" Said Sakura. Sasuke sighed in exasperation, wondering why he had been cursed with her as a team-mate. The dobe, he could do, he was Kitsune, so he was strong, even if he had trouble accepting it, but Sakura? Annoying and weak. Naruto didn't even react.

"Now, Sakura, I know what I'm doing, I'm the veteran here, right? Now … Begin!"

The three genin disappeared in the trees, two faster than the last, and began to observe. Sasuke and Naruto, trained as they were, had decided to stick together and see if they could find exactly what was bothering them with this test.

"Your thoughts Taka?"

"Seems strange. Danzo-sama said genin teams always had three genin and a teacher, so why would he create the possibility to have only one or two students?"

"He expects us to pass, but not Sakura … I think he wants to see if we'll go out of our way to help a team-mate, even if she's useless. After all that's Konoha's creed, comrades gotta work together no matter their strength."

"Hn. So I guess that means we'll have to get her a bell."

"Or get her to work with us. That's probably a test on teamwork or something. You shouldn't have too much trouble getting her to work with ya, since she's all over you and all."

"Hn, I give her to you anytime."

"No thanks, I like my girls a lot foxier."

Naruto ignored Sasuke's questioning gaze and began to smell the air slightly, quickly locating his team-mate's smell thanks to the shampoo. Following the smell with Sasuke tagging along, they quickly reached Sakura.

"Yo pinky, don't scream."

Sakura spun on her side while taking a kunai, pointing it at Naruto's voice, only to see him looking amusedly at her with an annoyed Sasuke at his side.

"Okay, long story short, this is a test of teamwork, so if we wanna pass, we gotta work together. So, you wanna get a bell or what?"

"Why should I believe you, loser? I'm sure you want to pass using Sasuke-kun's and my talent! Right Sasuke-kun?" The last part was said with an enamoured gaze towards the Uchiha, causing him to raise a hand to massage his right temple.

"Sakura. How many genin teams have only two genin?" Asked Sasuke in a clearly exasperated tone.

Sakura opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came to her mind, and she then realized that, indeed, all genin teams had three genin, and she then realized just what her team-mates had already deduced.

"He wants to see if we'll put our differences aside and work together."

Naruto smiled. "Ah, the kunoichi is showing, good. So, do we charge in together and just show him we're working together, or do we go for a complete show?"

"Hn, complete show."

"Alright, so we keep him busy and Sakura lays traps?"

Sasuke nodded, thus gaining Sakura's undivided support to the plan.

"Alright pinky, chose your zone, lay your traps, and signal us when you're ready, 'kay?"

Sakura nodded and began looking for a good zone to booby trap.

* * *

Kakashi was surprised, it was already an hour and his students had yet to show, something that really surprised him. His previous teams had already attacked, most of the time to show that they worked together and had understood the goal of the test, but not this time. He had no doubts that both Naruto and Sasuke had understood the test, but by now they should have …

A hail of shuriken interrupted his thoughts AND his reading, forcing him to jump out of the way and stash his book away. His feet had barely touched ground that he jumped again, avoiding a second volley of metal stars. Backflipping out of the way, he landed on his feet with a kunai in each hand. In front of him were Naruto with his bladed staff and Sasuke with his chokuto. His brow furrowed, but before he could talk, Sasuke dashed forward, slashing low and forcing him to block his blade with one of his own. Quickly, his second kunai went up, stopping Naruto's attack. Naruto, using his kunai and his staff as support, slammed his foot into his cheek just as Sasuke right foot left the ground to lodge itself into his stomach. The combined impact threw the jonin towards the trees. Skidding to a halt, Kakashi shook the surprise out of his system and quickly began to counter his opponents' strikes.

Sasuke's form was flawless, he only needed experience and speed to become one of the most dangerous blade users of the Leaf, as for Naruto … There was absolutely no form at all. The only constant seemed to be movement; there was no pattern, no way to predict his next strike, no style, or at least none he knew of, and it was frighteningly efficient. Without really noticing it, Kakashi was slowly pushed back towards the trees. Suddenly, a trap was triggered, sending a hail of kunai his way, forcing him to jump out of the way … and directly into another trap. For ten good minutes, he had to avoid traps, and while they were basic, it wasn't that easy with two of his students keeping him occupied.

The 'killing blow' came after a particularly vicious series of traps. One had released a cloud of gaz of quite displeasing smell, but it wasn't really hard to block it out, another had caused a slight ringing in his ears, thus limiting his sense of hearing, and his eye was locked on his weapon wielding students. Suddenly, they both lowered their stances, slightly confusing Kakashi … until he saw Sakura sprinting to stand at their side, with both bells in her hand. Kakashi stood there, shocked, for a minute, before getting a hold of himself.

"Well, I am impressed. Most teams would have chosen the easy way and simply attacked together, but you decided to go for the hard way and actually try to get the bells, I am very impressed."

"So are we." Said Naruto. "You're a real badass, and you weren't even at 25%."

"What are you talking about Naruto?" Asked a surprised Sakura.

"He is said to be almost Kage level, do you really think that three students out of the academy, no matter how good, could land even a single hit on a serious Kage?"

Sakura's eyes grew the size of saucers as she looked at Kakashi. Sasuke, hearing this, looked thoroughly pleased, probably because he had a really strong teacher.

"Anyway." Said Kakashi. "I have quite a good idea of both Naruto and Sasuke's specialties and capacities, so I'll have to test you Sakura, and see where you can improve. We'll probably spend the next weeks bringing you up to par." Then, he turned his gaze to the two boys. "I expect you two to keep working. I'll give you a voucher to allow you to borrow some scrolls at the Jutsu library. You both know your elemental affinities?"

Both nodded and Kakashi handed them a piece of paper with an eye smile.

"Good. I trust you to avoid going overboard."

Naruto and Sasuke departed and made their way toward the Jutsu Library. At the founding of the village, most of the population was made from clans such as the Uchiha, Hyuga, or Kurama, so a good deal of the most important institutions in the village had been entrusted to clans, both to ensure they were functioning and to show trust towards the clans. For instance, the Uchiha had been given the military police, the Hyuga were in charge of the relations with the Fire Daimyo among other tasks. The keeping of the Jutsu Library had befallen the Senju, but since there officially was only one Senju left, the staff was composed of families with ties with the Senju. The library was a tall building, heavily reinforced to resist possible attacks and capable of locking onto itself until the danger had passed, making it one of the entrance points to the shelters. They walked inside and went to the reception. The man at the reception looked up, and smiled brightly at Sasuke when he read the note, but he saw Naruto just as he opened his mouth, his expression immediately turned sour.

"I am sorry, but we do not allow the likes of … _him_ … in our respectable institution."

Sasuke rose an eyebrow and prepared to question the decision, not out of the kindness of his heart, but because he felt insulted by association, but Naruto put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head once Sasuke looked at him.

"Go find your scrolls, I'll come in soon. Could you just gimme the paper?"

Sasuke shrugged and gave him the paper without a care and went inside the library. The man behind the reception desk had an incredibly smug smirk on his face.

"Good, now leave the building … _Boy_."

Naruto looked at him, gave a cheesy grin, and then formed a cross with his fingers. In a puff of smoke, a clone appeared and left the building.

"Done, and now we'll nicely wait for Hokage-sama to come here."

All smugness left the man's face, quickly replaced by fear, as he tried to usher Naruto inside and get him to recall his clone, but the blond wouldn't bulge, and soon the receptionist was bordering on hysteria. A jonin seeing this came closer to investigate.

"What's happening here?"

Naruto turned to him and gave a civil, if a bit sinister, smile. "It happens that this guy doesn't think the local Jinchuriki is allowed in the Jutsu Library despite written orders from Hatake Kakashi-sensei."

The jonin took a second to digest the information. "Can you show me these orders?"

Naruto made a clone and had the clone hand its copy of the note, causing the jonin to quirk an eyebrow, both at the technique used and at the mistrustful behaviour. "Not the original?"

"Do I look stupid?" Said Naruto, causing the jonin to look at him quizzically. "Enough people have tried to screw me over; I'm not trusting of strangers."

The jonin read the note, handed it back to the clone, and leaned against the reception desk.

"So kid, what kind of reparation are you gonna ask?"

"Dunno, why?"

"Well that guy is basically suspected of treason just for refusing entry to a ninja." That caused the receptionist to pale horribly. "And while I doubt Ibiki and Anko will find any link to another village …" the mention of the Leaf two top interrogators made the man even paler, bordering on transparent. "… you will still be allowed to demand reparation for that, and since it's a grave offence, you could even demand to have his house and be granted your wish."

"Hm, I'll think about it. After all I'll need some pocket money in the future."

It was at this moment that the Hokage arrived, and he didn't look too pleased.

"Naruto, what is this matter your clone told me about?"

"This guy decided I wasn't welcome here and ignored written orders from Kakashi-sensei. Here's the note." Said Naruto, handing the paper to Sarutobi. The Sandaime read the note, glared at the receptionist, and snapped his fingers. Four ANBU appeared, kneeling in front of him.

"Take this man into custody, he is suspected of treason. Naruto, come to my office in two days, we will discuss the reparations you can ask."

"Okay Old Man, thanks." Sarutobi smiled, then shunshined back to his office as the ANBU shunshined with the frightened man to the detention area and left one of their own at the desk. The jonin looked at this, clearly impressed.

"Damn kid, you've got big friends."

"Yup, but I have to if I wanna go far. Say, you're jonin, huh?"

"Yup."

"Think you could give me a hand? I'll be sure to remember you."

"Heh, already playing the game of favors? That's a bit early, don't you think?"

"Maybe, but you, along with the whole village, will soon find out that I have enough power to do it. Now, I think you already know my name, but what's yours?"

"Ikazuchi Atsuo. What are you lookin' for?" Atsuo was wearing the standard Konoha outfit, had short flat brown hair, a slightly angular face and a goatee. His grey eyes held curiosity and interest.

"Fuinjutsu. Advanced books."

"Fuinjutsu? *whistle* Man that's a rare interest. You got lucky, that's one of mine too. Come, the Fuinjutsu part isn't really that big, but there are some good books. What's the last book you've read?"

"Introduction to advanced Fuinjutsu by Namikaze Minato."

"Woawoawoah what the fuck? You've read the Yondaime's book?"

"Yup. Couldn't find Senju Mito's books though, are they in there?"

"Well, yeah, but I personally failed to even begin to understand Yondaime-sama's book, so I won't be able to help you on that."

"Not a problem, just showing me where to go will be a huge help."

"Well, it's here. Say, how hard was it for you to understand Yondaime-sama's work?"

"Hm, fairly difficult, I had trouble following his train of thought and his explanations seemed a bit … well, I don't mean to insult his skills, but he didn't sound like he completely understood what he was trying to explain."

"Are you telling me you think you're better than Yondaime-sama?"

"No, I'm telling you he could have written more clearly. Besides, he wrote that book early in his career, and some time after he did, his skills in Fuinjutsu grew by leaps and bounds so he either found a new and excessively good teacher, or he made a breakthrough of epic proportions. But yes, on the theory, I think I'm currently better than he was when he wrote that book. Then there's the practical side, I'm still working on that one."

"Okay, so you're just better than most jonin at one of the most difficult fields of the ninja arts."

"Let's say it's in my blood. Say, you got experience right? I made a few seals, think you could look them over?"

Two days later, Naruto asked for the receptionist's house and, ironically, offered to rent him his own house. The man had no choice but to accept.

* * *

Two months passed. Team seven was slowly progressing, mostly because Sakura was trying to catch up, something she was doing with surprising gusto and determination. Naruto had found in Atsuo a teacher and kindred spirit, and when they began talking Fuinjutsu, they were often at it for hours. Together, they imagined new seals never seen before and worked to make them real, it was slow but there were progresses made. Very soon, Naruto was introduced to Atsuo's neighbour, an orphan girl by the name of Tenten that was crazed enough to build her own forge on the roof of her apartment building. The interesting thing was that the forge worked perfectly and she produced some of the finest weapons of the Leaf, even if she didn't know that. She also held an interest in Fuinjutsu, and soon the three began spending entire days talking about possible seals and their applications. As a sign of friendship, Tenten reforged the blades of Naruto's staff and gave him some of her kunai and shuriken.

Today was a day off for the entire village since the clans would be busy for the whole day. Today was one of the bi-annual clan gatherings where they discussed how their lands were doing. All of the major ninja clans of the village had noble status and had large properties spread throughout Fire country, and while the minor clans also had properties, they weren't as big. Twice a year, the members of the clan taking care of the lands would come to Konoha to give their report on both the economic situation of the lands under their care and the troops trained on their lands. Konoha in itself was too small to hold Fire Country's full military power, at least if they wanted to count, so the clans trained ninja on their lands in an effort to bolster the ranks. While the ninja trained out of the village weren't as good as those trained in the village, and rarely went beyond chunin, they were an important part of Konoha's military power. Today was important because the heirs of most of the clans would be introduced to the marvels of land owning and managing.

While it may look like a hassle, it was actually of the utmost importance. The main reason the Daimyo gave such leeway to Konoha was because the ninja clans were an important part of the economy of fire country. For instance, the Aburame held a complete monopoly over the production of silk, and theirs was the finest in the elemental nations, something that brought great pride (and incomes) to their clan. The Nara owned the majority of the medicine industry, while the Hyuga owned the lands producing the finest sake. The Kurama held most of the opium farms in the country, the Inuzuka had a firm grip on the vast majority of the animal related businesses, the Akimichi owned some of the most productive mines of the country, working with the Yamanaka when it came to gems, letting the mind readers and their jewellers craft the most exquisite of jewels. The Uchiha owned some of the best forges in the world and the weapons made there brought a great deal of income and pride to their clan, and even if they were slaughtered to the last, their fame remained. The Senju, or what was left of them, owned entire forests of otherwise rare trees. All in all, Fire Country couldn't work without the ninja clans and their power.

Naruto on his part was patiently waiting in a conference room in the Gauntlet. Danzo had told him to come here, and he had a good idea of what was waiting for him. A few years back, he had seen on Danzo's desk a poorly hidden file, so poorly hidden he was sure Danzo wanted him to see it. The file was named Whirlpool resurrection.

The door opened, and in walked Danzo, followed by a samurai wearing a black attire with a dark blue armour suite with the Uzumaki swirl on each pauldrons on top and surprisingly a Leaf headband, he had grey hair kept in a low ponytail, black eyes, a scar running across his left cheek and a thick moustache. He looked impassive and just the way he held himself screamed of a veteran.

Next came a jovial looking man, in his late twenties, with spiking bright blue, almost white hair, hazel eyes sparkling with optimism, and a constant smile on his face. He wore Konoha's flack jacket and his Konoha headband on his right arm, sewn into the sleeve of his black shirt, and black pants and sandals. A piece of clothe reaching his mid calves fell from the back of his belt and seemed to bear the Uzumaki swirl on at least the inside.

Third came a woman, probably in her forties, her black hair kept in a high ponytail reaching the small of her back, she had black eyes and beautiful features. She wore a light blue kimono with dark blue border that hugged her features, showing just how much of a woman she was. _'She probably gave a heart attack to a lot of old geezers with this kind of figure.'_ Interestingly, her dark blue obi bore a plate bearing the Leaf symbol. Glancing at her slightly ample sleeves, he caught sight of a handle behind the clipboard she held, causing him to tense slightly. The woman seeing this gave him an appreciative smile, as if satisfied to see she wouldn't work with an incompetent boy.

Fourth came a bulky man that looked anything but at ease and looked like he expected the ground to move. If the bunch of swearwords he kept muttering was anything to go by, he was a sailor. He was tall, around 6 feet 6, had dark brown hair falling to his broad shoulders, kept out of his forehead by a cloth headband that had probably once been white, hardened blue eyes, a scar running across his surprisingly still working right eye and a bushy black beard. This giant of a man was the only one not to have a Leaf headband, but the massive sword on his back showed that he too wasn't to be messed with. He wore a massive green gi as a jacket, the sleeves looking like they had been ripped off, possibly by his arms considering the size of his muscles, matching gi pants, and wooden geta. The sword itself looked like it had once been part of an anchor before being ripped off, sharpened and put on a handle.

Danzo sat next to Naruto, and the four took their seats on the other side of the table. The giant looked at Naruto, unimpressed, while the others bowed their heads politely.

"Old Man, you're telling me we'll take orders from that shrimp?"

"Are you sure you want to judge me on my size instead of my brain?"

That stopped the three others from scolding the sailor.

"Hmph, just 'cause your grandfather was daimyo doesn't mean you have what it takes to lead Whirlpool."

"And that's why you're here, to help me learn and advise me. Though if you don't feel up to the task, I can always find someone else."

The man glared at Naruto while the blond calmly held his gaze, not giving an inch. Finally, the giant relaxed and let out a boisterous laugh.

"Alright lad, you got balls, that's good. You may be blond but you're Uzumaki alright. The name's Suifuku Daijiro, recently appointed leader of Whirlpool's fleet. May it be for war or trade; I got the ship for it. You can find me in Kiri's bingo book; they nicknamed me Blood Wave after I sunk a quarter of their fleet, they attacked the wrong guy. My pa was Whirlpool's last admiral."

"Well it is a pleasure to meet you Daijiro-san. Hopefully we can grab a drink together when I'm of age and finally able to go to Whirlpool."

"Ha, count me in! Alright Old Man, your turn." He said, elbowing slightly the samurai next to him, causing the man to let out a gruff sigh.

"Uzumaki-sama, I am Musashi Masahiro, commander of Whirlpool's samurai forces. I know you are a ninja and as such probably don't think much of us samurai, but I assure you that my troops can give a run for their money to a lot of ninja."

"Masahiro-san, I do not think less of you because you are a samurai, it would be not only stupid but also insulting towards you and your troops. I may be your leader, but it doesn't mean I can disrespect you."

Masahiro by now was literally beaming with pride, delighted that his new leader was thinking in such a way.

"Those are exactly the words of your Grandfather! I am proud to once again serve an Uzumaki! I was part of Whirlpool's forces before the fall of the village; rest assured my Lord that all that your clan taught us will be passed unto the next generation."

"I am pleased to know this, Masahiro-san. I may require your tutoring later on; I wish to know all that my clan left behind, even if it isn't part of the ninja arts."

"It will be my pleasure to teach you, Naruto-sama."

Naruto smiled, he could see now that he had gained the loyalty of the old samurai for more than just his family name. Next, he turned to the woman.

"My Lord, I am Okami Keiko, clan head of the Okami clan and appointed to manage Uzu's economy, it is an honour to serve you."

"Okami … Okami, that name sounds familiar. If I remember correctly your clan was originated from Earth country."

"Our lands there have been destroyed after the container of the Five Tails attacked, apparently he considered we were on his territory and didn't want any human near him. We had to flee, and since Iwa didn't help us, we decided to leave Earth country altogether. Danzo-sama offered us asylum on your lands under the condition that we help, something we have strived to do."

"I see. I hope you didn't loose too many people during the attack."

"No, Han-san was more interested in making us leave. My father-in-law, my predecessor as clan head, negotiated our flight in the middle of a battle. It left him crippled but alive and Han-san allowed us to leave despite being able to kill us."

"I see. You have my condolences for your husband."

Keiko's eyebrows shot up, in surprise. "Your condolences? Izumo-kun is just fine, why do you think he is dead?"

"Well, you said your father-in-law was the last clan head."

"Oh, I see. We Okami work a bit differently, the clan head is the most competent leader in the clan, it's not a hereditary title."

"Oh, I see. Well, I am happy to hear this. I am a bit curious about your clan; hopefully I will be able to learn more when I visit Whirlpool." Keiko nodded, a smile on her face. Lastly, the ninja straightened up a bit.

"Well my Lord, I am Suihou Kento, current leader of the Whirlpool ninja forces. We're trying to go back to the old days were Fuinjutsu was our main specialty, but it's a bit hard, a lot of knowledge was lost during Uzushio's fall. So we kinda compensate with the rest. We are for now at 500 shinobi, most of them low-chunin level, but we're working on it. We concentrate mostly on defensive techniques and we have a respectable pool of med-nin."

"Good, and don't worry about Fuinjutsu, I'm working on it. I found a few partners to trade ideas with and we're making good progress. How is Whirlpool's academy doing?"

"Well quite good, we got quite a few students eager to be part of the corp, but since the population of the island isn't back to what it was, we'll need more time to be fully functioning."

"It's not a problem, we have time. Are you making common exercises to work with the samurai?"

"Yup sir, once a week."

"Good. How long will you stay? I'd like a little sparing match if it's okay with you."

"Ha! We can do that just after the meeting if you want sir!"

"Sounds good. I hope you're happy, not many get the occasion to kick their boss's ass."

Kento laughed at the joke, clearly happy to have a cool boss. "I'm gonna like working with you boss, you're a cool guy!"

"Well thanks. Now, let's get down to business. It may take some time, but I want to know exactly how my people are doing."

* * *

The meeting lasted most of the day, a lot was discussed, and Naruto further impressed his advisors. When they left the village after the sparing match with Kento, they were all happy with their new leader and Daijiro was loudly boasting that he had the best boss around. Danzo, who had stayed with him all along, was impressed.

"You did exceptionally well."

"I prepared. Besides, a leader is there to serve the people, not the other way around, so I gotta get into the mindset."

Danzo nodded, pleased with his charge.

"How is Kitsune doing?"

"Not much left, most of the merging is done. Well, if you'll excuse me, gotta go grab some shut eye, it was a tiring day."

Danzo nodded, letting the youth return to his home.

* * *

_**Author Note:** And Done, chapter 2 is finished._

_Admit it, none of you saw the Lord part coming.  
_

_A point I think I should clarify, Naruto won't get fox ears and tails, and he won't merge with Kyubi. A more in depth explanation of the sisters' transformation will be brought later in the story. In fact, there'll be small pieces of lore spread throughtout the story._

_And once again, I call upon your imagination for the clans of Whirlpool. Don't worry, I'll take good care of your clans, just ask Uzumaki Ricky how I'm treating his OC clan. Come on, I may change a few small things to integrate them, but otherwise I'll keep them the way you thought them up. Please. Pretty please. Pretty please with sugar on top._

_Till next time!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Author Note:_

_Hello, beloved readers! No, this story is NOT dead, I just had a ... ah, hectic few weeks. What with being ill, and internet screeming a big "F you" in my face. Oh, and my usual Beta Syynex being barred from PC time. So ... yeah, a bit late, but here's chapter 3._

_And thanks to Uzumaki Ricky for betaing while Syynex was indisposed._

* * *

Three long months since graduation, three months of D-ranks and Sakura being trained into the ground to catch up. It had taken a month just to convince her to stop dieting, but, after that, she had made fairly good progress. She had begun as a weak genin and already was at high genin level with a fairly good level in genjutsu and was studying medical ninjutsu, something that would be a boon in future missions. She was already competent enough to close open wounds and was beginning to study how to repair organs. But while training progressed well, they had grown tired of the D-ranks, especially those where they had to chase that damned cat. Since they all shared this feeling, they agreed to ask for a C-rank at their next stop at the mission office. And it was just this morning.

"Sensei, could we have a word before going in?" Asked Naruto. Kakashi, pulling his nose out of his orange book, looked at him curiously, gesturing for him to continue.

"We are tired of the D-ranks, sensei." Said Sakura. "We think a C-rank would be beneficial."

"Hn, D-ranks are no challenges. A C-rank might show us how much we've progressed."

Kakashi thought about it for a moment, then nodded before proceeding into the office.

"Hello, I would like to aquire a C-rank for my team." Said Kakashi to the chuunin handing the missions. The man looked through the list he had.

"Ah, we have something for you. It's a simple escort mission: you will accompany a bridge builder back to his country and protect him while he finishes his work. Hokage-sama mentioned that your team specifically would be best suited." The chuunin sent a look to Kakashi that clearly said _'There's something fishy. Be on your guard.'_

Kakashi nodded and took the mission. The man gave them the address of the hotel where Tazuna resided and the team went there. They quickly reached their destination, a low-cost hotel situated in one of the most rundown parts of the town.

"Damn, the guy must have put all his money in the mission. Even my apartment is better than that."

This caused both Sasuke and Sakura to look at him questioningly, but he ignored them. Kakashi got the number of the room at the reception and led them to it. Once they reached the door, he knocked.

"Whozere?"

"I am Hatake Kakashi, jonin of Konoha. I am here for the mission."

"'T's open."

Kakashi opened the door and stepped inside to see a room that actually managed to look worse than the rest of the hotel. Sprawled on the bed was a man in his late fifties to mid sixties, with seriously greying hair. He looked absolutely pathetic and the stench of alcohol was sickening. He looked at them with slightly glazed eyes, and disbelief soon made its way to his face.

"Zis a joke? A bunch of kids?" He slurred. "Tell me itza joke, no way these kids are ninja."

"Don't worry, my team may be young, but they are competent. Now, may we know your name?"

"I'm Tazuna, the super bridge builder!"

"Very well, when do you want to leave?"

"When you ready!"

"Uhuh. I think we will wait after lunch to depart, if you don't see any objection. My team need to pack and you need to … rest."

"I'm good, got all the rest I needed."

Naruto having enough of this let out a burst of killing intent, causing Sakura to jump in fear and surprise and Tazuna to sober up at very high speed.

"You back, old man? Good. Now, we're leaving after lunch, so you better look through your shit to make sure you didn't forgot a thing and sober up a bit more. Oh, and take a shower! My nose is a bit sensitive and I don't want to travel with a guy that stinks. It would be much appreciated if you didn't drink your ass off before we leave. You should know that clients acting too disrespectfully can be black listed. Wouldn't it be sad if your whole country was blacklisted because of you? You wouldn't want that, right? Good, now prepare your pack, take a good shower, and have a nice lunch away from sake. We'll see you at the gate. Is 2:00 good, sensei? Okay, we'll see you at 2:00 at the west gate. See ya."

Naruto walked to the window, opened it, and simply jumped out. Sasuke grunted and followed the same way, finding the blonde's escape way to be an excellent one since it allowed him to escape the stench. Tazuna, still shaking a bit, turned to Kakashi.

"Wh-what the hell was that?"

"Killing intent, some sort of murderous aura."

"A-and he is … always like that?"

"Nope, usually he is nicer. I guess you just got on his nerves. But as you can see, my team is indeed competent. Now, if you will excuse me, I must prepare for the mission."

Tazuna was left with an equally shaken Sakura. The old bridge builder turned to the young pinkette.

"Are you the only normal person on this team?"

* * *

The team gathered at the western gate at the appointed hour. Everyone did a double take when they saw Naruto's attire. Gone was the orange jacket tied around his waist. He stood in black pants with black sandals, a dark red sleeveless T-shirt, and a sleeveless hooded black coat falling to his mid calves. Now that his arms were visible, all could see that he wasn't as scrawny as he was believed to be. Quite the contrary.

His staff was separated in two, each part having a foot and a half of handle and a foot long blade and each blade resting in one of the sheaths crossed on his back. Then came a running and slightly fearful Tazuna.

"S-sorry! *pant* I had to *pant* pay for my room. *pant* It took *pant* longer than I thought. I'm … not too late, am I?" He asked apprehensively.

"No, you're just on time." Answered a smiling Naruto, slightly creeping out Tazuna. "So Sensei, do we set out?"

Kakashi nodded and they began their trek. The first two days of travel were utterly uneventful. Sakura, being curious, asked Tazuna why he had hired ninja. The reason was that a business tycoon, Gato, was submitting Wave to his despotic reign, his bridge being the only hope to break his hold on the country. He gave a quite vivid description of the situation in Wave. How poor they were, how people were thrown to the streets, and how children were forced to scavenge for food. Considering just how dangerous Tazuna was to Gato's reign, he expected him to send his mercenaries to kill him off, hence why he needed ninja protection.

"Tazuna-san, you do realize Gato'll just have to seize the bridge, right?" Noted Naruto.

"Yeah, I know. That's why I'm building a secret passage inside the bridge. That way we'll be able to discreetly pass mercenaries into our country to overthrow Gato."

"Hm, not a bad idea. But what is stopping them from taking control of the country?"

"The Daimyo's forces. He's not doing shit because Gato didn't try to take his place. But if the mercenaries do turn against us, the Daimyo'll be forced to react."

"Maybe…" Said Naruto, a plan beginning to form in his head.

At this instant, stone spears flew from the woods. Naruto went to the right, unsheathing his blades and deflecting the spears masterfully while Sasuke did the same on the left with his chokuto. Kakashi immediately had a kunai in each hand and Sakura, on reflexes alone, took a defensive position near Tazuna. From the undergrowth, three shinobi emerged, all of them with slashed Iwa headbands.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Poor lil' tree huggers are protecting our target! Be nice, hand him over, and we'll let you live."

Naruto, who had brought the hood on his hair, looked carefully at each of the Iwa deserters. One was facing him, another was in front of Sasuke, and the last was directly in front of Kakashi.

"Sensei, they're pages 359, 360 and 361 of the Bingo Book! Iwagawa Kosuke, Noda, and Setsuo."

"Heh, heard that brothers? We're famous! Even Konoha genin know our names!"

"You're the weakest missing nin to ever leave Iwa. You are so weak that the bounty for your heads is placed at half the standard bounty for rogue chunin, making it the lowest bounty in the history of the elemental nations. Rumor has it that Ōnoki is even considering removing the bounty altogether since you're so weak." Answered Naruto with a smirk, thoroughly incensing the three missing nin. Since they were so angry, they charged right in, intent on showing the genin how strong they were.

Sasuke dashed forward and cleanly bisected his enemy before spinning on his heels and cutting off both his arms to ensure he wasn't a danger anymore. Naruto ducked under a kunai strike before cutting the man's arms at the elbow. He then slammed his knee in the man's groin, causing him to fall forward with a grunt of pain and opening him for a hit at the base of his neck, knocking him out. Kakashi simply disappeared and reappeared behind his enemy and chopped him in the neck, causing him to fall unconscious. Then, he turned to his blonde student.

"Naruto, why did you assume I didn't know who they were?"

"I assumed you did, I simply didn't see any other way to exploit their weakness. It's said in the Bingo Book that they are easily angered, especially when you question their worth, and that their competence drops when angry, so I found a way to take advantage of that."

"Good thinking." Praised Kakashi with an eye smile. "And Sasuke, good job. You handled him very well." Kakashi then turned towards his last student and was only mildly surprised to see Sakura breathing hard and looking at the blood and guts of Sasuke's opponent. She was shivering, small whimpers escaped her. "Naruto, Sasuke, try and interrogate the two survivors. I have to talk to Sakura."

With that, he gently pushed the pinkette towards the wood to have a talk with her. Naruto took his prisoner, bandaged his arms just enough to stop the bleeding, and looked over his shoulder. To his surprise, the old man didn't seem all that phased by the sight of blood. Ill at ease, yes, but not in shock. Turning back to his prisoner, he tied him to a tree and passed smelling salts under his nose, causing him to wake up, though groggily, probably because of blood loss.

"Hello, Kosuke! I have quite a few questions."

"S-screw you."

"No thanks, I'm not swinging that way." Naruto took a scroll from inside his coat and unrolled it where Kosuke could see it. From it, he unsealed an array of pointy things. Just looking at the assortment of things, Kosuke felt phantom pain begin to appear throughout his body, but he stood strong. Naruto then took a small piece of paper, showed him the seal on it, and placed it on his forehead before activating it. Kosuke felt a strange tingle go through him, and he was surprised to feel his clothes against his skin with such intensity. Everything seemed more … intense.

"Now, as you may have noticed, your sense of touch has been heightened. Nearly a hundred fold." Naruto then took a spoon. Kosuke hadn't seen it because he was concentrated on all the menacing tools. Naruto showed him the spoon clearly, both sides, before bringing it down on his shoulder, almost like a playful hit. But you wouldn't have guessed, given the scream of pure anguish and pain that escaped Kosuke's lips.

"W-what the hell?"

Naruto didn't answer. He instead took a strange apparatus with vicious looking hooks and held it in front of Kosuke's eyes. The handle seemed a bit large, and there was a button on the shaft that had the hooks. Naruto pressed the button and small arcs of lightning began coursing on the hooks.

"The feet are one of the body parts with the most neural terminuses, did you know that? There's also the tongue. But since you obviously can't write anymore, you'll need to talk. Oh, and did you know that there's a point in pain where you suffer so much that you can't even fall unconscious?"

That did it for Kosuke. If a single spoon could cause that much pain, he didn't want to know what that _thing_ would feel like, especially not if he knew he couldn't escape it. He blurted out everything, how Gato had hired them to kill Tazuna, the exact emplacement of Gato's fortress, his ties with the Daimyo, the number of his goons, even the emplacement of the pirate bases working for him. And Naruto, of course, took note of everything on a little notepad. When Kakashi came back with a slightly better Sakura, he saw a whimpering mess near Naruto and Sasuke trying and quite failing at extracting information from Setsuo. It seemed Sasuke's torture methods weren't his bright point.

"Alright Sasuke, enough! I'll handle him." The Uchiha backed off grumbling and the slightly sweating Iwagawa smirked. Kakashi then turned to Naruto and sighed. "Naruto, I asked you to interrogate him, not break him."

"But I interrogated him, he sang like a bird. Here are my notes."

Kakashi looked at the notebook and his eye widened. "Naruto, how did you do that?"

"A tag, a spoon, and some intimidation."

"Naruto, never speak of this around anyone with contacts in T&I."

"Why?"

"Because if you do, Ibiki will pester me until I give you to him."

"Meh, fair enough. So, we go on? These guys were weak as hell and their boss isn't particularly stronger."

Kakashi thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Alright, behead them. I'll seal their heads, their bounty will add to the mission pay."

Kosuke almost welcomed death, but not Setsuo. Far from that. "You fucking tree huggers! You'll all die! You can't stand against Gato's army! You'll all die! And I'll piss on you from up there!"

Sasuke, having had enough, beheaded the man in one swift slash of his chokuto. Kakashi quickly sealed the heads and they resumed their trek. Along the way, Sasuke kept sending dirty looks to Naruto, pissed that the dobe, the dead last, was once again besting him. It was infuriating! He was supposed to get stronger to avenge his clan, yet that guy, who didn't seem to have an ounce of hatred in him, was getting stronger than he was! It wasn't fair! With a growl, he returned his gaze to the road in front of him.

* * *

The team was walking down one of the many foggy paths of Wave country. They had recently landed after taking a small boat to cross the sea. It had taken nearly an hour at full speed to go to Wave. And, on the end of the journey, they had to cut the engines and rowed, all for the sake of being discreet.

While they walked, they didn't notice the pair of eyes looking at them hatefully, nor did they notice their owner gathering his chakra. Suddenly, a spear of stone shot from under Tazuna, impaling him completely. "What?" screamed Kakashi. Three kunai shot from the trees, slamming into each of the genin's heads, while a hand coated in a blade of rock shot through Kakashi's torso.

"Ha! So much for the almighty Hatake Kakashi!" Screamed Kuromoto Batu, rogue jonin from Iwa. "I knew you Leaf scum were just weaklings!" Kakashi, blood pouring from his mouth and soaking his mask, turned his head to face him … and eye smiled.

*puff*

"WHAT?"

Kakashi appeared behind him, swinging his hand coated in lightning in an arc and cleanly beheading him. Kakashi then took a handkerchief from the deceased jonin's pouch and used it to clean his hand. "Its okay, guys! He's dead."

The genin and Tazuna joined Kakashi near the new corpse, Sakura looking away while Kakashi collected the head and Naruto drew a cross on a portrait in a black book.

"Well, that guy is worth quite a lot, mostly because of his crimes. This mission is becoming more and more profitable."

"Do you only think about money Naruto?"

"No, I also think of two beautiful and sexy foxy twins I wish existed outside of my imagination. Hey, I'm a ninja! If you want a benevolent and chaste, guy go see a monk."

"You disgust me."

"I can live with that. So, Tazuna-san, where's your house? I got a few things I'd like to talk about with ya, but I don't feel like doing it in public."

Tazuna began to lead them down the path and they quickly reached his house. The door opened and a woman burst out of the house, running toward Tazuna.

"Father! You are okay, I am so relieved! There were rumors about Gato hiring ninja to assassinate you!"

"They were true, but these ninja were even better! Gato will have to find new goons. Ninja-san, this is my daughter, Tsunami."

The Konoha team bowed politely at Tsunami and introduced themselves. Since it was beginning to be a bit late, Tsunami went to prepare diner while Tazuna showed them their rooms. Kakashi and Sakura each got one for themselves while Sasuke and Naruto had to share the last room. Of course, Naruto didn't really want to share a room with Sasuke so …

"Say Sakura, how 'bout we trade rooms?"

"What? And my privacy?"

"That would be the perfect occasion to entice Sasuke with your body and show him you're better than Ino."

"Deal!"

Sasuke sent a death glare to Naruto, Kakashi looked bemused at the scene, and Naruto calmly went to settle down in his new room, laughing to himself about how easy to play Sakura was. After he finished setting his stuff down (including a complete bedding), he went to the kitchen and helped Tsunami.

At the diner table, everything seemed fine, even though the kid seemed a bit broody. After diner was finished, Naruto decided it was time to begin phase one of his plan.

"Tazuna-san, may we talk in private?"

The bridge builder nodded and led Naruto to his room so they could talk. Once there, he sat on his futon and faced Naruto.

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

"What if I had a way to rid you of Gato AND the Daimyo at the same time?"

"… I'm listening."

"For a reasonable sum, I can call for the forces on my lands, just north of here, in Whirlpool, and I can stage your very own coup d'état. After that, you can proclaim yourself Daimyo of Wave and use the country's treasury to pay for both the use of my troops and the mission, which by now has probably been updated to A-rank at least since there was a jonin. Besides, you'll be able to fund the completion of the bridge. So, what do you say?"

"… how long for your troops to come?"

"Hmm, looks like that seal I designed will be useful." Said Naruto with a smile. Two weeks before the mission, he had designed a seal to send messages across long distances. It was far less efficient than radio wave and was still experimental, but it served its purpose. Fishing inside of his coat, he took a scroll out.

"How could you hide that in this coat? It's big enough to be noticed."

"The marvels of fuinjutsu." Unrolling the scroll, he began pulsing his chakra into the seal, sending a mental message along. In the officer quarter of the main Whirlpool fortress, a message appeared on the corresponding scroll.

"Alright, my troops should arrive in … hmm, five to seven days."

Tazuna nodded, accepting the delay easily.

"You promise you won't take over the country?"

"That would be extremely bad for my image, so yeah, I promise not to take over Wave country … Well, unless you ask me to." Answered Naruto with a grin.

* * *

Four days had passed. It was early morning and Naruto was sitting on the roof, looking over the rising sun. Sakura was still sleeping, exhausted after yesterday's training. Kakashi was keeping the pressure up and she was now working on waterwalking. But with her quite small reserves, even if they were growing, she was easily exhausted, something Sasuke was grateful for. Otherwise she would have raped him already.

The boy, Inari, had been annoying lately with his gloomy behavior, last night he had sprouted nonsense about Gato being too strong or whatever. Naruto had proceeded to ignore him completely and, in the end, it was Sasuke who snapped when the boy said they didn't know what it was to have a hard life. Inari didn't know it, but he was lucky to still be in one piece. Behind him, he heard the door to the balcony of Inari's room open. He could feel the little boy's glare on his back and this time decided to talk to the boy.

"What is it, Inari?"

The boy remained silent, keeping the glare up. With sigh, Naruto turned and looked at him.

"You're upset about what Sasuke said last night, huh? Well you just picked the worst person possible to say that."

"What does he know? He doesn't know what it's like to suffer, to lose some…"

"He lost his whole clan." That shut Inari up. "His own brother slaughtered his whole family, not only his mother and father, but also his cousins, uncles, aunts, everyone. He lost 800 people in one night. I don't know who you lost, but I doubt it's that much. You know, your statement was only true for Sakura."

"… Who did you lose?" Asked the little boy quietly. Naruto chuckled humorlessly.

"My parents, on the day of my birth. Well, my leader showed me a woman and said she was my mother, but she's in a coma with no way of waking up, so I have no idea if she's really my mother. I grew up alone, no love, no family, and no friends. It only changed in the last months."

Now the boy was properly humbled. He was looking down in shame at his words. He was about to ask a question when the water near the house began to move unnaturally, causing Naruto to turn to look. Reaching discreetly for a kunai, he hid himself on the roof while Inari went to wake Kakashi up. The water began to rise and, from the depth, emerged an octopus with the symbol of whirlpool appearing on his skin like a tattoo. Kakashi suddenly appeared behind Naruto, looking at the summon cautiously.

"Naruto, since when do you have summons?"

"Not mine, but friendly." Answered Naruto.

"Uzumaki-sama." Spoke the octopus in a grave voice. "Daijiro-sama gave me a message for you."

Naruto jumped down on the walkway and made his way to the summon, taking the sealed container it offered him, then the summon disappeared in the depth. Naruto opened the container and took the scroll before unrolling it and looking over its content. Tazuna cautiously opened the door behind them, peering through the crack, having been woken up by his grandson. Seeing it was safe, he exited and approached the widely smiling Naruto, seeing the scroll.

"What does it say, kid?"

"That my friends made it here faster than expected! they'll be at a beach north of here in two hours."

"Naruto, who?"

"You'll see, sensei. You'll see."

"Naruto."

"It's not interfering with our mission. Or, at least, not in a bad way, so I don't think I have to tell you, do I?"

Kakashi remained silent, looking intently at his most interesting yet annoying student. "Naruto, you are bordering on insubordination."

"Okay, no need to use the big words. Let's step inside and I'll explain everything."

* * *

Two hours later, the whole team 7 and Tazuna were at a beach, a bit to the north. Naruto was looking with pride at the display while the other looked gobsmacked at the dozen or so ships, all bearing the crest of whirlpool. There were two akatebune and 8 or so fune. Additionally, there was a half-dozen damaged ships bearing pirate symbols. Entire squads of shinobi and samurai were jumping from the Whirlpool ships, using water walking to reach the beach. In full armour, Musashi Masahiro went to Naruto, a smile on his face, and bowed low once he reached him.

"Naruto-sama, Whirlpool's forces are at your service. I have here 150 samurai and 75 shinobi. Considering the mission, Kento sent our more fight oriented shinobi under the command of Ōkami Izumo."

"Good, very good! I didn't expect you for at least one more day."

"Don't underestimate me, lad!" Bellowed Daijiro from atop a gigantic octopus. He jumped and landed incredibly nimbly for someone of his size. "Sorry, we had a lil' date with the pirates! These idiots had never seen a warship. Heard you got a map for me?"

"Yes, here are the locations of all the pirate harbours. Clean up this mess."

"The loot?"

"Half to Whirlpool's treasury, the rest is spread between the crews."

"Aye, sir. Say boss, how 'bout we get that drink once you're finished with that coup?"

"Sure, Daijiro. Sure."

"Alright! Take care of him, Masahiro!"

"Will do, brat."

Daijiro jumped back onto his summon, and led his fleet to the sea to attack the pirate bases. The soldiers of Whirlpool gathered by type and unit, the shinobi organizing themselves by squads of five while the Samurai gathered by squads of ten. From the shinobi side, a man approached. He was in his forties, had black spiky hair, black eyes and a goatee. He wore the Konoha standard uniform under a long grey haori falling to his mid-calves with the crest of whirlpool on each of his shoulders, metal guards on his forearms, and his headband on his forehead.

"Uzumaki-sama, I am Ōkami Izumo."

"Ah, Keiko-san's husband. A pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise, my Lord. May we know where our targets are?"

"Yes, of course. Tazuna-san, do you have the map I requested?"

"Uh, yeah! Here it is."

Naruto began to unroll the map and marked the different objectives along with the enemy presence.

"Umm, Naruto? I do not mean to disrespect your troops, but do you really think 150 samurai will be able to fight Gato's troops? That sounds like a suicide mission to me."

"Watch what you say, brat!" Bellowed an incensed Masahiro. "My boys can beat a chuunin anytime!"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at what he thought to be a boast.

"Well sensei, maybe we should accompany the assault on Gato's main base? That way, you'll be reassured."

Kakashi nodded his agreement and Naruto sent a smile to Masahiro. The generals of Whirlpool then began barking orders, attributing squads to each destination. The Daimyo's palace would be seized by four shinobi squads before three squads of samurai moved in to secure and hold the place, then the four squads would move onto Gato's caserns inside the capital. His hold on the main port would be broken by two squads of shinobi, five squads of samurai would move to take control of the main villages of the small country, four more squads of shinobi would scour the country-side to eliminate outposts, and lastly two squads of samurai would take control of Gato's warehouses. The remaining ten squads, five shinobi and five samurai, would lead an all out assault on Gato's fortress along with team 7. As soon as the order was given, the squads leaped into action. Kakashi was quite impressed to see the samurai easily keeping up with the ninja, even with him. Naruto, on his part, was quite delighted.

"Masahiro-san, after what you said I had quite high expectations for your troops, I am pleased to see such promising display!"

"Thank you, my Lord!"

In a matter of minutes, they reached a clearing near Gato's fortress. Masahiro sent archers in the trees to cover the assault before coming towards Naruto along with Izumo.

"My Lord, we have a strategy that would be perfect for such a situation." Said the aged samurai.

"Hm, I'm listening."

"Quite simple." Said the wolf ninja. "Masahiro lead the samurai to attack the front and distracts the mercenaries while we infiltrate from the rear and begin attacking from there."

Naruto thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Nice strategy. Simple, but it will be effective against these low-lifes. Remember, don't damage the building too much and try to salvage as many valuables as possible."

The commanders nodded and went to their troops. Masahiro took his squads to the front gate while team 7 accompanied the ninja to attack the rear. Kakashi noticed absentmindedly that a lot of the ninja had wolf themed decorations, association them to the Ōkami clan. They reached a vantage point, hidden among the foliage, giving them a clear view of the front door. They saw the sentinels at the door screaming something … Then the door exploded inward in a shower of splinters, with Masahiro and his forty samurai charging in and taking position in the courtyard, spreading into an arc in front of the gate.

Gato's mercenaries began to attack them and were mercilessly and effortlessly cut down. Those that used bows were taken out by arrows coming from the trees. Izumo signaled for the attack to begin and all the ninja flew from the trees, landing silently on the tiles of the fortified mansion. Kakashi took a few more moments to look at the samurai, and was completely stunned to see that they hadn't budged and that a small pile of corpses was beginning to form in front of the line of armored fighters. Izumo signaled for everyone to prepare.

Sakura had requested to sit this one out and Kakashi had agreed to it. Looking at his other students, Kakashi saw Sasuke readying his chokuto and Naruto unsheathing his twin blades before putting them together to form the bladed staff. Kakashi saw the whirlpool ninja readying their weapons and noticed that they all had weapons of some kind. The flow of mercenaries had stopped. Seeing that they didn't risk to be flanked anymore, the ninja jumped into action.

They landed silently and gracefully behind the wall of mercenaries and began to brutally attack them. Naruto jumped into the fray, decapitating two thugs in one slash of his blade. Still in the air, he spun on himself, bringing down his blade across the back of a bandit as he landed and completed his spin. Screams of panic began to fill the ranks as the ninja slaughtered the mercenaries silently. Spinning on his heels, Naruto cut three thugs in half at their midriff before blocking an axe destined to his head.

Spinning his staff, he pushed the weapon up and slashed the man open with the second blade. Jumping back, he landed on the chest of another man who's head he removed as he fell before jumping lightly to keep him at head height and slashing wildly around him, slashing open four necks and six throats. '_Ten seconds, eighteen dead.'_ Jumping above a spear, he landed on the hilt and immediately began running along it, spinning his staff wildly as he went, killing five more bandits before reaching the owner of the spear and beheading him in one fluid move. '_Twenty-four.'_

He dashed to the right, ducking under a strike from a nunchaku before driving his blade in the skull of the owner as he removed it he used the momentum to open another goon from hip to shoulder with a spin of his staff. He then jumped over a sword strike and took the wielder's head. An idiot trying to look cool by using a war scythe tried to kill him. Naruto simply stepped back before swinging his staff and cutting the shaft. He then kicked the blade into the man's face while blocking a dagger from his left.

Using the momentum of his right foot, he jumped up and slammed it into his opponent's windpipe, crushing it. Accompanying the falling corpse, he spun his staff around, slashing open three more throats. _'Thirty-two.'_ The ranks of the opposition were thinned, no one remained near him and the last enemies were taken down. Masahiro came to him, a smile on his face.

"How many my Lord?"

"Thirty-two."

A victorious smile made its way to the general's face as he extended his hand toward one of his captains, palm upward. The captain, grumbling something about 'killing machines', placed a pile of ryo in Masahiro's hand to Naruto's amusement.

"You made a bet on my kill count?"

"Yes, sir! I knew you would at least kill thirty of them, so I bet on it."

Naruto nodded. "Alright, let's go get that Gato fellow."

"If I may. sir." Said Izumo. "It would be safer to let my clansmen search the complex and warn you once the target is located."

Naruto thought about it, then nodded his consent. The shinobi began to spread throughout the complex, searching for traps and enemies. The rare resistance pockets were taken out quickly and quietly and Gato's office located. Naruto went to the office with Kakashi, Izumo, Masahiro and Sasuke. Kakashi approached the door and opened it suddenly, diving inside with a roll, a kunai in each hand ready to take out any threat.

He was only greeted by a scream of fear from Gato. "W-who are you? Wait, you're a ninja! Get me out of here and I'll pay you a fortu…"

"I'm afraid that's not possible." Interjected Naruto as he stepped inside. "You've been trying to kill our client, so I doubt sensei here would let you get away with it. Besides, my forces have been kind of hired to take you out."

Gato looked at the blond teen with horror written across his face. "N-no, I-I'll pay you! I'll pay you five times what they pay! Ten times! I …"

"Not interested. There's more at stake than just money, there's also my reputation. The Fire Daimyo sure wouldn't appreciate if his most recent noble turned out to be easily corruptible, eh?" Without waiting for an answer, he slammed the flat of a blade against Gato's temple, knocking him out. "Good, now that it's done, Izumo-san, could you please go fetch me Tazuna? Thank you. Now, where is the overly decorated throne room?"

"Throne room?"

"Why yes. This guy is short, meaning he has to compensate by showing off his money, so he must have some kind of overly decorated and cliché throne room."

"Umm, Naruto-sama." Intervened a slightly uneasy Masahiro. "There is no throne room."

"Oh, poop. Well, I guess I'll have to do with it. Let's go to the courtyard, the reports should be coming in soon."

And indeed reports came from all the squads. The operation was a complete and utter success. The Daimyo had been killed and all of those that were competent enough to replace him had 'resisted' during the assault. Gato's caserns had been cleared, both in the capital and in the countryside, all mercenary outposts had been seized, looted and burnt to the ground. The main port was under control, along with the main population centers of the small nation.

The warehouses had been seized and all illegal goods destroyed. The shinobi and samurai had already begun a wide swipe of the country to eliminate the remnants of Gato's forces. Leaders from the main towns and villages were being gathered at the Daimyo's palace to discuss the current events. Tazuna arrived with Izumo via shunshin and, when this all was announced to him, he looked positively lost. Sasuke was seeing Naruto in a new light.

He had always considered him a loser. And even after he had realized that Naruto was Kitsune, he hadn't thought much of him. He may have been a good fighter, but he didn't have enough power to really make a difference. Or so he thought. Now that it was revealed that Naruto was not only a noble, but had a complete professional army at his disposal, he suddenly jumped up there, to the top of the threat ladder.

He was a competitor, and a serious one, something that Sasuke didn't like one bit. Kakashi was looking at it all a little bit bemused. He honestly didn't expect that from one of his students. Usually, the forces trained in the clan fiefs didn't leave these lands unless a war occurred, may it be against another clan or another country. Most of them were militias of genin with a small cadre of chuunin and jonin at their head, but Naruto had shown here that he had a fully trained samurai force more than willing to obey his every orders, a fleet of warships probably able to go toe-to-toe with Kiri, and at least one clan of shinobi ready to obey him.

And he was ready and willing to call onto them. If that wasn't enough, his forces were visibly well trained, with samurai capable of keeping up with shinobi and a ninja force that seemed to count a good number of high chuunin in their ranks. It was impressive, and it would definitely be mentioned in the report. The group shunshined to the Daimyo's palace and Kakashi was honestly surprised to see the samurai general using the shunshin so casually, but he didn't show it. They stepped into the throne room and saw that the representatives of all the biggest villages and towns were there. Naruto stepped forward.

"Good morning everyone! I am Uzumaki Naruto, Lord of Whirlpool. Tazuna-san hired my forces to remove Gato and the former Daimyo with him since they were working together. Well, it's done! As of today, 11:00, 30 minutes ago, Gato has been arrested! Masahiro-san, did you bring him along?"

The samurai threw the little business man, tied up, in the middle of the room. "Good! As per my contract, I am instating Tazuna as Daimyo of Wave and delivering Gato to you so you can judge him in anyway you want. Now, as for my payment, if it does not upset you, I think I will pay myself with Gato's possessions. Is that alright?"

Everyone in the room nodded eagerly. "Wonderful! As part of the contract, humanitarian aid will come to Wave around tomorrow. And, since Gato really does own a lot, or rather owned since it's mine now, I will include a few squads to patrol your islands and ensure peace remains. Is that alright with you?"

Once again, the council was eager to accept, making their agreement known quite vocally. "Good! The legal content of the warehouses will be relinquished to Wave, along with your ports and the pirate ships captured."

"E-excuse-me, Uzumaki-sama." Said one mayor with his hand raised. "Did … did you say pirate ships? Y-you destroyed the pirate blockade?"

"Well, maybe not completely yet, but my fleet has a map of all the pirate hideouts under Gato's command and is busy destroying them. Now, Daimyo-sama." Said Naruto, bowing to Tazuna. "I will go back to my new mansion and set it up as a field HQ for the patrols. Have a good day."

Naruto exited the room with a spring in his steps, along with the Konoha ninja and Whirlpool soldiers.

* * *

Two weeks since they had arrived, and the bridge was finished. A complete consensus had emerged from the people of Wave, and it was decided that the bridge would be called the Great Whirlpool Bridge, in honor of the warriors that saved them from slavery at Gato's hand. Entire ships of food had arrived from Whirlpool and the small island nation was beginning to rebuild what it had lost. Now, all the officials and a sizable portion of Wave's population were seeing the team off. Naruto was exchanging a few last words with the commander of the patrol forces in Wave, a woman named Minamoto Tomoe.

Finally, they set off to go back to the Leaf. Sasuke was as gruff as ever, even more so when it came to Naruto. Said blonde was clearly showing he didn't give a damn and smiled wickedly, and Sakura was back to worshiping the Uchiha with one or two wary glances to her other team-mate. Kakashi, under the cover of reading his book, was thinking deep, trying to understand why exactly his student had this smile. Finally, curiosity consumed him.

"Naruto, what are you smiling about, if I may?"

"Heh, Tazuna-san may be a good bridge builder, but he isn't a Daimyo. He wasn't formed to be one. And it so happen that all those that could have advised or taught him resisted during the assault on the palace. He'll want out, sooner or later, and without anyone competent to take the post, Wave will want to become part of Fire Country, most probably to become part of a fief to benefit from the privileges."

Now Kakashi understood. "And they'll choose the fief that was so good to them, Whirlpool."

"Yup, thus allowing me to control a good half of the most used sea trade routes in the elemental nations. I will almost have a monopoly on the Fire and Hot Water Countries eastern coasts, and even a tad bit over Tide's northern coast. If Lightning wants products from Tide, they will have to have them pass through my lands and my fleet or pay a far bigger price when they go through at least three other countries to go around me. And, since Tide produces some of the finest and costliest medicinal herbs, they will have no choice but to stay in my good graces if they want to keep having their medicine fresh. As you can see, I will find myself in an excellent position to put pressure on Lightning, which means I will become a necessary ally for the Hyūga in the issue around the abduction of Hiashi-sama's twin daughters, thus increasing my support base in Konoha."

Silence settled on the squad. Sakura was stunned and wasn't sure to have understood everything. Sasuke was struggling to understand the geo-political implications, a subject he hadn't really studied. Kakashi understood everything, and now perfectly realized that his blond student was a political monster in the making, if only because of the power he would hold.

"Hmm, maybe I should negotiate with the Tide Daimyo to establish Whirlpool commercial outposts on his coast. That would extend the monopoly. Hmm, I'll need to see how I could sway him in my favor." Mused Naruto out-loud, further convincing his team-mates that the blond was in fact a dangerous and manipulative individual. From then on, the trip continued without a hitch, Kakashi returned to his reading, Sakura to her worshiping, Sasuke to his brooding, and Naruto to his dreams of world domination.

* * *

_Author note 2:_

_And done, chapter 3 has now ended. I feel the need to explain three things though._

_1) Tazuna does not know about the ninja hired by Gato. The reason is quite simple, when you hire a ninja to kill someone you failed to intimidate, you don't flaunt him around, you shut up and let the guy do his job in silence, striking fear in the heart of the people. Tazuna had NO WAY to know Gato had hired ninja, so he had nothing to hide._

_2) Naruto may look like he's the squad leader and not Kakashi, but I have my reasons, reasons that will be explained later in the story, just know for now that kakashi let him take control._

_3) Yes, I place the Uchiha at 800, because you can't have a strong noble clan with only five families or so, it's just ridiculous. Also, in the allied shinobi army, there are 80 000 dudes, so that severely increase the amount of people in the villages, and subsequently, the clans._

_Also, I am still in need of clans to help populate Whirlpool, so please send them. I just ask you to be careful about your fluff, I've received a few clans already that are very interesting, but a bit overpowered, and just a little bit of tweaking could make them very good. Just be reasonable with their skills and eventual bloodline. I'm open to epicness, very much so, but don't push it too much. Feel free to send me your ideas, I'll answer your review or PM and point out the things that could be a problem, that way we can work things out._

_Anyway, thank you for your time and patience, I know it's tiring reading about my rambling. Thanks for reading my story, and see you next time !_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author Note :**_

_Good day, my reader! Welcome to the fourth chapter of Rise of the Skulk. In this chapter, I introduce the first reader based OC clan of the fic, the Raisotsu clan! Big thanks to Uzumaki Ricky for providing the clan ^^ A list of the OC clans that will be used will be provided at the end of the chapter._

_Also, I posted a link to the map I used (picked on Leafninja dot com and modified to suit the story)._

_And now, onto Sovngard and beyond my slave! Err ... wrong fandom. Onto Whirlpool and beyond my slave! *flies away on a grumbling dragon*_

* * *

Team 7 stood in front of the full council, civilian and shinobi together. The reason? They were present during a coup d'état, and Konoha needed to know if they could use it to their advantage in any way. But first, the council needed to hear the full story, so Kakashi gave them his report. At the end, they were all very quiet, processing what had exactly happened. The civilian were worried to learn that Naruto was in fact the heir of Whirlpool, that certainly placed them in a difficult position. Even if they were never violent towards the boy, they often found ways to make his life miserable, like slightly upping the prices, or selling slightly spoiled food, nothing too noticeable and easily deniable, but the boy knew it. While the civilians were considering ways to erase their previous mistakes, the ninja were quickly connecting the dots, especially one Hyuga Hiashi.

"Uzumaki-sama." Said the Hyuga, surprising everyone by treating him as an equal. "Could you give me some of your time after this meeting? I wish to discuss some things regarding your trade fleet."

"Why, but of course Hyuga-sama, it would be my pleasure." Answered Naruto with a bright smile.

"Keep the pleasantries for later please." Interrupted the Sandaime. "Kakashi, what is Wave's current political status?"

"Our client was proclaimed as the new Daimyo, but he isn't a politician, I doubt he'll keep the position for long. Additionally, it should be mentioned that all the officials of the former Daimyo who could have taught or advised him have … ah … resisted … during the assault on the palace, so … he's on his own to manage a country without any formation or advices."

Saki Haruno raised her hand, and Hiruzen nodded in her direction to allow her to talk.

"Sandaime-sama, maybe we should send humanitarian aid to Wave in order to improve the Leaf's standing among the population, with the political situation described by Hatake-san, they would no doubt ask to be placed under Leaf protectorate after a few years."

Danzo was giving Naruto a slightly disappointed gaze, saddened that he hadn't thought of that. He quickly reconsidered when he saw the gigantic and slightly wicked smile on the blonde's face.

"My apologizes Haruno-san, I am afraid I already did that. After all, I couldn't possibly let all those poor orphans to fend for themselves, could I?"

The civilian side looked at him with wide eyes, shocked that a mere twelve years old managed to beat them to the punch. They could have sworn it was a political manoeuvre if it wasn't for the sheer honesty in his voice. The ninja side saw right through it, and Naruto received more than one appraising look. Hiashi in particular seemed to have even more interest in him while Danzo had to forcibly contain his proud smile. From the corner of his eye, the old warhawk saw Hiruzen smiling amusedly at him.

Saki Haruno quickly recovered. As the head of the Konoha Mercantile Guild she refused to be outdone by a kid.

"Uzumaki-_san_, I heard your fief is barely recovering and still under reconstruction, is it really wise to spend so many resources?"

Naruto waved off her concern without a care, not even for the clear disrespect. "Mah, don't worry, Whirlpool will be fine, since we rebuilt our ports trade is going just fine and more and more towns are being rebuilt, and if we find ourselves in a shortage of supplies, well Daimyo-sama owes me a billion or two, he'll be happy to help."

Hearing this, Tsume actually chocked. "Daimyo-sama owes you _what?_ How the hell did you manage to get Daimyo-sama to be in debt with you?"

"I didn't, my great-grandfather did. He lent some money to help build Konoha and the Fire capital. Anyway, as I was saying you don't have to worry about my fief Haruno-san."

Saki Haruno may be a stubborn woman, but even she could say when she was defeated, and she was in fact currently ranting in her head about her own idiocy, she had let her dislike for the boy interfere, and what should have come out as a concerned question now appeared as an insult and a mark of disrespect, she could only hope that the boy wouldn't hold it against her and that he still had a crush on her daughter that she could use.

"Alright, I think our questions have been answered and we have a good idea of Wave's future situation, this meeting is adjourned." With a sigh, the Sandaime rose from his seat and made his way to the exit, giving an appreciative nod to Naruto along the way. The clan heads began filling out of the room, looking at Naruto in a new light. Shikaku stopped near him.

"Good job kid, that's one fine way to show you're a player."

Naruto smiled widely. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Nara-sama."

"Of course. *chuckle* Of course."

The Nara left the room with an amused smile plastered on his face. Hiashi stopped next to Naruto, gaining the attention of the blonde.

"Ah, Hyuga-sama, shall we discuss my fleet around diner? It is quite late."

"Most certainly. May I invite you to the Hyuga compound?"

"I accept with pleasure, I heard a lot about the talent of the Hyuga cooks."

Hiashi nodded and led him away from team seven, Sasuke fuming once again at the importance his team-mate was taking. He could not accept the fact that Naruto was now his equal both as a ninja and socially. Before, he could still see himself as superior because the Uchiha were a noble clan, but now he learned that his team-mate was a noble too, what next? His ancestors were Daimyo? He couldn't accept the idea that he was equal in everything with someone he had despised all his life, he had to find a way to become superior again, if it wasn't through skills then it would be through fame.

* * *

The walk toward the Hyuga household was calm, even if the villagers were looking absolutely shocked to see the Hyuga clan head walking with the 'demon brat' and talking to him like he was someone of equal stature. Their talk mainly revolved around the most recent political events, both national and international. Hiashi wanted to see just how politically aware the boy was, and he was absolutely shocked to see that Naruto knew almost as much as him. When they arrived at the Hyuga manor, Naruto was led to Hiashi's office after he sent a branch member warn the cooks that he had a guest. Once in the office, Hiashi went directly to the serious stuff.

"Well, Uzumaki-sama, you are better informed than I thought. I heard your fleet is the fastest in existence, is that true?"

"According to my admiral, my trade fleet can go from Hot Water to Tide in a bit under three days. Must I understand you wish for a quick mean to export your sake?"

"Yes, it would give us more opportunities. It so happens that the Tide Daimyo is quite fond of our sake, instating a trade route between out ports and Tide could result in massive benefits on both our parts."

Naruto smiled. "Even better, we could ask the Tide Daimyo to let us put up Whirlpool commercial outposts allowing the entry of goods in his country tax free, the idea of having more of your sake, faster and cheaper will probably be enough to convince him."

Hiashi nodded. "This seems to be worked out; may I consider ourselves as commercial partners?"

"Most certainly."

"Good. I am a little curious, what are your plans after Wave asks to join your fief?"

"Do you know of the Susanoo's Teeth archipelago?"

"Yes, a very rich zone, but difficult to sail, littered with cliffs, sandbanks and other treacherous obstacles. The main island, Foam, is rumoured to be especially rich, but this cluster of islands is poor and in constant anarchy because of the pirate fleets that infest the smaller islands. I do recall that Water once tried to purge these islands only to loose their whole fleet."

"Yes, very accurate. There are no less than 200 pirate bases, from a single dock for a lonely ship to entire harbours housing no less than eight ships. They made prosperous life on Foam impossible, and Lightning's south coast is subjected to so many raids that they have to import goods through their neighbours of Frost. But even then, it isn't safe and Susanoo's pirates often raid the trade routes. I just so happen to be currently using these trade routes a lot."

"You do realise your fleet will be attacked?"

"Oh but that's what I want. Once the pirates do this very mistake, I will have an international excuse to raid and conquer the archipelago. My admiral already took contact with no less than twelve fleets and convinced them to join over once the battle begins. My fleet also has detailed maps of the archipelago and the emplacement of almost all the pirate bases."

"Kiri failed to seize these islands, what makes you think you can?"

"First, they didn't have inside help, second, their ships were primitive at best while the Whirlpool fleet is nimble and technologically advanced, and last but not least, they weren't led by Suifuku Daijiro."

Hiashi's eyes widened. "You have Daijiro the Kraken under your orders?"

"Yes, you could say he was honour bound to help since his father was Whirlpool's previous admiral. He really likes my plan. Though, I'll admit I wasn't the one to come up with it."

Now Hiashi knew that Naruto would succeed. Daijiro had been a famed and feared pirate captain and he had many nicknames. The Kraken, Blood Wave, the Fury of Whirlpool, now he understood the last one. Then, the implications dawned on him.

"You will have complete control of the sea trade on the eastern part of the elemental nations, and no one will be able to accuse you of anything, you will have simply defended yourself against pirate attacks and done the world a favour by removing them. Impressive."

"Yes, and since I am a prudent man, or boy for now, my men have already contacted a few independent ninja clans to settle down on Foam and some of the biggest islands. I already have three clans interested in settling down on Foam while five others want to build their fortresses in the islands, and a few others are debating the possibility."

Hiashi quickly recalculated everything he knew of the boy. He had been told the blond was the dead last, with no talent as a shinobi, an idiot of untold proportion with no hope of redemption. Clearly, the last part was wrong, so absolutely wrong, and while he didn't know about the part on his ninja talent, he did know that the boy was one devious leader. While looking like a benevolent man, he would gather the largest military and economical power in the elemental nations, he would have thousands of fighters ready to answer to him, and if they were at the level of those that fought in Wave, then he would become the most powerful individual in the world on a military point of view. That alone would make him indispensable to Konoha.

"As an added bonus, people probably won't pay too much attention to me, I mean, sure taking over Susanoo's Teeth will be impressive, but they'll probably think I don't have the man power to hold it on my own. And they are right, that's why I'm recruiting clans far and wide. They'll think I'll simply retreat and let the pirates come back to the Teeth. By the time they realise that, no, the pirates haven't come back; the islands will be well populated and fortified. If that wasn't enough, my shinobi will be known for their barriers, not their offensive power, thus they will think my troops just have sturdy defences, and they won't see any interest in attacking someone that obviously isn't a threat."

"I see. But in the end jealousy will appear and they will try to destroy you like they did Uzushio."

"Yes, but when that time comes, my forces will be at their peak, and I will have become an unavoidable part of the trade world. I will be irremovable. The only major countries that won't depend on me for their importations are Rock and Wind, and neither are in any position to threaten my possessions."

"I see. Tell me, since we are allies …" Naruto smiled at the shift from 'trade partners' to 'allies' "… Could you use that hold over the eastern sea to … help the Hyuga?"

"Oh, you mean with your daughters? Well most certainly, after all I must stand by my allies." Said Naruto with a smile.

Hiashi smiled back, satisfied with the way things were going. "And of course the Hyuga will stand by your side, as should an ally."

Naruto's smile widened, pleased with the way things were going. He now had support from the most powerful clan in Konoha and he didn't even need to negotiate. A soft knock on the door was heard, and Hiashi invited inside the person. The door slid open to reveal a beautiful woman with long indigo hair and byakugan with a tint of lavender, and a small girl with the same eyes but long brown hair.

"Husband, I heard we have a guest?"

"Indeed, Uzumaki-sama, meet my wife, Hyuga Hitomi and my third child, Hyuga Hikari."

Naruto rose to his feet and bowed low to Hitomi and Hikari. "It is my pleasure to meet you"

Hitomi smiled kindly at the well mannered boy while Hikari looked at him in awe. "Umm, sir, are you a ninja like Father?"

"Yes, but I'm a bit young so I'm not as strong as him."

Eight years old Hikari looked at him in wonder. She had rarely seen people without the byakugan, and it surprised her to see what 'normal' eyes looked like. A branch member came in and informed them that the diner would soon be ready. Hiashi led them to the diner room, and Naruto was introduced to the two last members of the family.

"Uzumaki-sama, this is my brother, Hizashi" Naruto bowed respectfully. "And my nephew, Neji."

Naruto looked at him, he was familiar. "Washi-sempai?"

Neji's eyebrows shot up. "Kitsune?" Naruto nodded with a smile, and the Hyuga boy smiled as well. "Ah, it is a pleasure to see you again. You graduated this year, correct?" The blond nodded again. "How is your team?"

"Taka is the same as ever, cold and globally uncaring, and Sakura is being her fangirl self."

Neji smiled compassionately. "You didn't have much luck, being placed with both Taka and a fangirl."

"I suspect Hokage-sama placed us both here to push her to work more and hopefully grow up, the sad thing is that Taka needs to grow up too and doesn't seem to want to. He's still focused on avenging his clan. Not a bad objective if you ask me, but he shouldn't live only for that. And then there's this superiority complex of his."

Neji nodded in understanding. Meanwhile, the adults were looking at them in surprise as they talked like old friends.

"Maybe we should stop using our codename, don't you think Naruto?"

"Yes, you're right Neji. By the way, how's your team?"

"Excentric, to say the least. My sensei is Maito Gai, did you hear of him?"

"I heard of him and I heard him, sadly. I am surprised your ears are still functioning, that man spends almost more time screaming than breathing."

Everyone who knew who Gai chuckled in good humour. "It has gotten worse. Gai-sensei managed to corrupt my male team-mate and he now wears the same horrid green spandex and bowl cut. Lee, that's his name, screams nearly as much as sensei does. My female team-mate and I came up with a technique that emulates earplugs with chakra alone, and we have become adept enough with it to raise it in a second. Ironically, this idiotic use of chakra raised our chakra control incredibly." Said Neji with an amused smile. "Tenten was quite astounded when she saw the results."

"Wait, your other team-mate is Tenten? Brown haired girl with a love for weapons?"

"You know her?"

"Yeah, we have a common interest, Fuinjutsu." Hiashi perked up, listening more intently.

"You are interested in Fuinjutsu?"

"Yes, partly because it's fun and partly because of a family tradition. Compared to Whirlpool's old seal library, what we have in Konoha is absolutely miserable, I heard that my ancestors were capable of using seals in battle, and not just exploding tags, I heard they had seals that could emulate ninjutsu."

"That is impressive."

"Yes, but think a bit farther, what would happen if you were to combinate seals creating elemental chakra? Let's say … earth and water."

Every adult's eyes widened. "Mokuton." Murmured Hiashi in shock. Naruto smirked.

"Yes, with enough work I may be able to recreate the techniques of the Shodaime Hokage through fuinjutsu. But it will be in a long time; right now I'm still trying to figure out how to do even a simple chakra nature conversion seal. Apparently, changing the nature of your chakra is hell, even with seals helping along the way. It would be easier with a neutral chakra, but I don't think that exists."

Hiashi blinked and looked at his brother. During the conversation, they had taken seats around the table, but they kept listening to the two youth, but it looked like it may be a good time to place a word. "Naruto-sama, if it helps you, I heard Jiraya-sama speaking once of sage chakra, he said that natural energy made all elemental techniques equally easy because it wasn't attuned to any particular element."

Naruto stopped and looked at Hiashi, wide-eyed. "That's it! If I can harness natural energy I can hope to actually make progress! Thank you Hiashi-sama!"

Hiashi nodded. At this moment, the doors of the kitchen opened, and dishes were disposed on the table. The diner was mostly Neji and Naruto talking about what they had done in their career, and once Hikari had left the table to go rest, they talked about Naruto's plans. Once he had finished explaining his plan, he looked at the people around the table, and quite enjoyed their shocked expressions.

"I knew you were devious." Said Neji. "But I didn't know it was to this extent."

"Why, thank you, I worked hard to be like that." Answered Naruto with a cheeky grin.

"Does … Danzo-sama know all this?"

"Why bother the old man? He is busy with other things. Besides, I don't really need his approval. It's not like I'll start a war, Lightning will even have to thank me for removing the pirates harassing their south coast." Said Naruto with a smirk.

Neji smirked as much. "And what do you plan to ask as thanks?"

"Oh, I think you have a good idea of who I'll ask for." Answered Naruto with a smile.

* * *

A week later Team seven was waiting for their teacher at their meeting point. It was a peaceful morning, nothing was out of the ordinary, the sky was clear and the air was warm. In a flutter of swirling leaves, Kakashi appeared, but he didn't look too pleased.

"Alright, who did what? I just received a convocation to the Hokage office for our whole squad."

Sasuke and Sakura both looked at Naruto. "Don't look at me like that; I stopped making pranks when I became serious."

With a sigh, Kakashi signalled them to follow him. They made their way to the Hokage office in silence, with Sasuke and Sakura occasionally glaring at Naruto, much to his irritation. When they arrived at the secretary's desk, she pointed at the door. Kakashi knocked on the door, and instead of the angered voice he expected, the Sandaime calmly told him to come in. Kakashi led his squad inside and instead of an irate old man; he saw an interested Kage and one Hyuga Hiashi.

Kakashi stood on the right of the Hokage, curious as to why he was in the same room as Hyuga Hiashi.

"Team seven, Hiashi-san requested your presence, though he wanted to wait until you where here to explain his reasons."

"Thank you for your patience, Hokage-sama." Said Hiashi, bowing to his leader, and then turning to the team. "The reason I requested your team's presence is because Naruto-san and I have some business in Tide, however as a genin he does not have the same flexibility in schedule me and my fellow jonin benefit from. For this reason, I wish to hire your team for an escort mission to Tide, we may be gone from two weeks to two whole months, depending on how well the negotiations go. At my demand, and to compensate for the interruption of your schedules, I paid for an A-rank, even though it is classified C-rank. Is this acceptable?"

Naruto and Kakashi were smiling widely, Sakura was contemplating new ways to tempt Sasuke on Tide's famous beaches with some sexy bikini, and the Uchiha was fuming at the training time lost. Kakashi of course accepted readily, always ready for some paid vacation. Hiashi nodded, satisfied.

"Hiashi-san, if I may." Said Naruto, surprising everyone with the choice of suffix. "Could we make a detour to Whirlpool? We will visit a Daimyo, presenting him with a gift would put him in better dispositions."

"What gift do you have in mind?"

"Maybe an ornate bow? I heard he was quite fond of hunting."

Hiashi nodded appreciatively. "That would be a fine gift."

"Excellent, I will warn my men, the bow should be ready in two days and a ship should be waiting for us in Wave in one. That will give me the occasion to see how Wave is doing and to finally visit Whirlpool, if only a little. When shall we leave?"

"Kakashi-san, would it be acceptable for us to leave in an hour?"

"Certainly Hiashi-sama, my team will go prepare at once. Unless of course they took my advise and prepared a ready-to-go pack?" Asked Kakashi, looking curiously over his students. Sasuke grumbled but nodded, Sakura nodded as well, relieved she had taken the advice, and Naruto got a scroll out.

"Hn, dobe, we're supposed to have a pack, not some paper." Said Sasuke with a smirk. Then he remembered just what you could hide in a scroll. Naruto calmly unrolled his scroll and began unsealing his supplies. To everyone's shock, he had sealed inside five tents, ten spares of clothes, two months of ration bars, a full bed (sheets included), a hefty sum of money, cooking wares, fishing and hunting equipment, cloaks for hot and cold climates, five spare staves, twelve pairs of shoes, including some for extreme climates, a repair kit to take care of his equipment, an unknown but very high number of spare shuriken and kunai, trap parts, a good supply of scrolls of all sizes, inks and brushes …

"Alright, enough Naruto, seal all these things back in, my office isn't that big."

Kakashi looked in pure disbelief as his student resealed all his things into the scroll. A question popped in his mind, and he felt he would soon be both very happy and very shocked.

"Erm, Naruto? You didn't unseal any water …"

"It's because the three months of water I've sealed wouldn't fit in the office."

Kakashi's hunch proved to be true. "So basically, you have enough supply in this scroll to ensure the team's survival in any situation."

"Yup, I also got enough meds to set up a field hospital if need be. Took me some time and a lot of money to gather all that, but I think it was worth it."

"Indeed. It's good to know that you're prepared, but it's not a reason to completely rely on you, I expect everyone to have their pack ready. Now, go prepare and gather at the east gate as soon as you're ready."

The team left the building quickly to take their packs while Naruto calmly walked with Hiashi to the gate. Fifteen minutes later, they were taking to the trees after Naruto sent a message to whirlpool through his scroll. They reached Wave a day and a half later. Seeing the bridge, Hiashi stopped a moment.

"The Great Whirlpool Bridge. Impressive."

A great arch bearing the name of the bridge had been built above the road, and also housed a guard house. From inside, Minamoto Tomoe emerged along with a squad of five samurai. The black-haired woman bowed low in front of her superior.

"Naruto-sama, Hiashi-sama, a small storm slowed the ship, it should arrive in the late afternoon. When Daimyo-sama learned that you were coming he invited you to his palace to share a lunch with him."

"Well, we shouldn't keep a Daimyo waiting; don't you think so Hiashi-san?" Asked Naruto with a big smile.

"Most certainly." Answered Hiashi with a smirk. This kind of interactions thoroughly spooked Kakashi, probably because they acted like they were great friends.

Quickly, the group made its way to the Daimyo's palace, and shared a lunch with Tazuna. During the meal, Naruto asked many questions about how Wave was doing, and was quite pleased with the answers, in more than one way. Tazuna was holding up the best he could, but he wasn't an administrator, far from that, and they learned, to Naruto's satisfaction, that they had decided to consult the people on whether or not they should remain independent. The results would be known in about a month. After lunch, Naruto and Hiashi went to inspect the Wave garrison, and Naruto was very pleased to see that some of the locals had enrolled themselves in an effort to have a competent force to defend the country should Whirlpool leave. The newly formed militia was learning at a good pace, something highly satisfying.

Once the visit of the Whirlpool HQ was finished, a messenger came and told Naruto that his ship was waiting in the harbour, so the group began its trek to the port. Sasuke was, once again, irritated. Seeing his team-mate's power constantly was annoying at best, and down right infuriating most of the time, and this was no exception. But he hadn't seen the worst yet. When they reached the harbour, a collective jaw-drop happened, even Naruto was shocked. In the middle of the relatively big harbour, there was a lone ship, it had probably once been an akatebune, but now it was more of a floating palace. The bow was made of two serpentine dragons with their whiskers intertwined, holding together onto a pearl, the wooden statues being covered in gold. A small building followed on about a quarter of the ship, then a courtyard with a small garden, and finally from the middle of the ship to the stern, a palace, fashioned to resemble the castles of old stood. And standing smugly near the pier, was Daijiro wearing a dark blue kimono bearing the crest of Whirlpool. The group slowly closed the distance, admiring the ship all along. Once they were close enough, Daijiro began walking toward them, a bright triumphant smile on his face as he bowed in front of Naruto.

"Naruto-sama, this ship is the Pride of Whirlpool; I hope it is to your liking and good enough for a diplomatic mission." Said the admiral with mirth in his voice.

Naruto kept his gaze on the ship, still in awe. "It will be perfect Daijiro, absolutely perfect. It is truly impressive. When can we leave?"

"As soon as you request it."

"Good, then we'll leave as soon as we embark."

Quickly, the group embarked and the ship began moving. To Everyone's surprise, it moved very fast for its size. Hiashi, curious, turned to the captain. "Daijiro-san, I am no naval expert, but I am fairly certain a ship of this size isn't supposed to move at this speed."

"You are right Hiashi-sama, however I made a few interesting discoveries during my youth, including an old device transforming ambient chakra into energy, once I had a good idea of how it worked I managed to recreate it and linked it to the engines. Now, Whirlpool has the strongest and fastest fleet." Hiashi nodded, accepting the answer.

The ride was calm, and the next day they reached Whirlpool Island, more specifically the southern port. The city was growing nicely and many construction sites were visible, indicating that the island was indeed doing well. When they landed, they were welcomed by Masahiro and a full platoon of samurai that escorted them to a mansion that had been established in case Naruto decided to visit. Of course, Naruto regretted greatly that he couldn't visit his lands like he wanted, but he couldn't really stay too long if they wanted to be on time for the meeting with the Daimyo. They left Whirlpool the next morning with the ornamented bow. The travel to Tide was a calm one, Sasuke would stay in his quarters and brood passionately, Sakura would try to infiltrate said quarters, and Naruto enjoyed the anomaly that was the small garden on the bridge. How that thing was kept healthy, he would never know, but he certainly didn't complain. Occasionally, one of the three fune making up the escort would come close enough that he could wave at the crew.

When they reached the harbour of Tide's capital, they saw that an official delegation was waiting for them, and looked positively gobsmaked at the ship. Naruto smirked.

* * *

"_Hmm, yes Dream-kun, just there. Ooh, this is the best."_

"_Ah, I couldn't agree more sister. Hmm yes, oh your hands feel so good."_

"_Heh, I try my best."_

"_Hmm, I don't know what's better, your hands or the fact there's two of you, oooooh."_

"_Hmm, yeah it's nice and all, but our backs are relaxed enough. How about taking care of our front boys?"_

Naruto awoke in his room in Tide, with one very hard problem.

"Those vixens. *sigh* I wish they were real."

* * *

Three weeks later, they were leaving the country. The Tide Daimyo had quickly agreed to the creation of Whirlpool trade outposts since it would be beneficial for the economy of the country, but the details had taken some time to be discussed. A clan of chakra-using sailors originated from Wind country, the Kazeshio, had been selected by Naruto to oversee the construction of the outposts. The Kazeshio had a respectably good fleet, but they were choked by the competition in Wind, so this new position was a godsend for them, the fact that they trained in ninjutsu ensured that their ships and outposts would be well defended. While they were in Tide, the Hokage had sent a message to them, telling them to wait in Wave to see what the people decided to do regarding the future of the country, of course Naruto was thrilled. However, when he finally reached Wave, a little surprise was waiting for him on the docks.

Once they walked down the pier, they were surprised to see a group of Okami talking with a group of light-blue haired ninja. The Okami seemed extremely friendly towards the other ninja, something that put Naruto slightly at ease. He noticed Okami Izumo talking to a tall-man with spiky electric blue hair, very dark blue pants and a matching shirt, plated finger-less gloves and shinobi combat boots. He had two ninjato on his back with their sheath crossed and bore two katana on his side in a samurai fashion. He had a kunai holster on his right leg and a pouch on his back on the same side. Interestingly, he seemed to have a birthmark or tattoo in the form of crossed lightning bolts on the cheek Naruto could see. Apparently, Izumo and the man were talking quite happily and comparing batches of photo. If the silly grins and happy laughs were anything to go by, they were talking about their children. _'Good, family men are easy to deal with, you give them a place where their family is safe and they're happy. Their appearance seems familiar, but I can't seem to remember from where.'_

Izumo finally noticed the approaching group and signalled his friend. Both began to put the photos back into their wallets, and Naruto saw a few happy teens on said photos, confirming his theory. When they were close enough, Izumo and the man bowed, Naruto absentmindedly noticing that the birthmark seemed to be present on both of the man's cheeks and that he had yellow eyes with a ring of blue around the pupil. Another thing he noticed was the X shaped scar sitting in the middle of his face.

"Naruto-sama, it is a pleasure to see you."

"Likewise Izumo-san." Said Naruto, nodding his head. He then smiled at the blue-haired man. "And you are?"

"I am Raisotsu Rairō, head of the Raisotsu clan."

"Woah, wait a minute, the Raisotsu clan? You mean the clan that worked with mine to create the sword of the Nidaime?"

The man nodded with a smile. "I am happy to see that the old alliance was not forgotten. I have come here to request your help."

"Certainly, I will be happy to help my clan's allies."

"Thank you. Since you are from Konoha, you know full well of Kumo's hunt for bloodlines, correct?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well, it may look like it stopped, but inside the borders of Lightning, it is still going strong." Said Rairō gravely. "My clan has always been one of their prime targets, and now that they can't try to capture bloodlines from other countries, they hunt down the bloodline clans of Lightning with even more ferocity. We have lived in hiding for a long time, but they are closing in, we need a way out. When we heard that the Uzumaki were alive and that Whirlpool was being rebuilt, we decided to contact you. My clan asks for asylum and protection, please help us in our time of need." Rairō bowed low once he finished.

"Stand up. Where is your clan currently?"

"Keiko-san was kind enough to let us stay in Whirlpool for the time being, we couldn't stay in Lightning any longer without being discovered, and we don't have the might to face Kumo."

"I see. Well I'll be happy to offer you asylum on my lands, but if you do settle down in my fief, then you'll have to wear Konoha headbands and flack jackets. Also, I may require a small relocation soon, depending on Wave's choice."

"Thank you. I trust we will be as far away from Lightning as we can?"

"Of course."

It was at this moment that Sasuke, fed up with seeing his team-mate gain power while he did nothing, decided to speak up.

"If it is a safe place away from Lightning that you seek, I can offer you far better. You could settle in my lands in the South of Fire Country, as far away from Lightning as you can get." Said Sasuke with a smirk, causing Naruto to scowl, but before the blond could warn his potential ally against the Uchiha, said man beat him to the punch.

"I am afraid not, Uchiha-san. All the vassal clans of the Uchiha, such as the Hamegawa clan whose lands you offer us, have, at one point or another, been forced to integrate your clan; on the other hand the Uzumaki were known for treating their vassals with honour and respect, for this reason we chose the Uzumaki." Answered Rairō calmly, making the Uzumaki smile in satisfaction and the Uchiha growl in annoyance.

"Now that this is covered." Said Naruto. "Let's go to the Whirlpool HQ, I would like to know more about your clan Rairō-san."

* * *

A week had passed and the governing body of Wave had requested Naruto's presence at the palace. Of course, Naruto had hurried over there, escorted by Okami Izumo, Raisotsu Rairō and Minamoto Tomoe. As he reached the throne room, he felt thrilled, he knew what was coming. The officials from all of the main settlements of Wave were present, and all seemed happy. Tazuna looked impatient, like he was three phrases away from his liberation, which was probably true. Bowing, Naruto and his subordinates seated themselves. Tazuna cleared his throat and began speaking.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Lord of Whirlpool, it has been decided by the people of Wave that independence was not as important as safety. Your troops have shown strength and kept us safe in our darkest hours, freeing us from two tyrants. Wave wishes to entrust the future of this lands and its inhabitants into your hands, do you accept?"

"It is an honour, I accept and will strive to make Wave a better place, and ensure all of its children are fed and cared for."

"Then I bow to you my Lord." Said Tazuna as he, along with all the officials, bowed to the floor. "May Wave prosper under your guidance."

Naruto rose to his feet, satisfied with the way his plan had gone. "Rise. First, the Raisotsu clan will come from Whirlpool and settle down in Wave, with Raisotsu Rairō appointed as central administrator of Wave and head of the ninja military if any are trained in Wave. Minamoto Tomoe is hereby appointed as head of the Samurai corp of Whirlpool in Wave. Tazuna-san, I will require your services in the future, I'll send you the specificities for some bridges, and I would appreciate it if you could look them over and see if you can build them, and if you can prepare a few first batches of plans before you are shown the place of construction."

"That I can do. Man, am I happy to go back to bridges." Tazuna sighed in relief.

Naruto smirked amusedly. "I have no doubt you are. Now, Wave will undergo a heavy transformation. Due to its geographical situation, it has potential to become a major trade hub, something I do plan to turn Wave into, especially now that trade outposts are being established in Tide. Expect heavy investments in the island's economy soon."

All the mayors had grins when they heard that. Investments meant work; work meant the island would be back on its feet quicker; and if Wave indeed became a trading hub, then they never would have to worry about the next meal ever again. Rairō was glad to have a new home far enough from Lightning but still close enough to his new friend Izumo, and Naruto was happy that his plan was a success. The next day, the Leaf team and Hiashi departed from Wave to inform the Konoha council of what transpired in Wave, and once again a good chunk of Wave's population had come to see them off. The Wave Division in its entirety stood at attention, proudly displaying their light blue armour marked with the crest of Whirlpool, Wave's emblem just below it. There were over a hundred recruits, not bad if you asked Naruto, and while they still had a long way to go, they were determined. Naruto gave a small speech, causing the crowd to cheer, and they were off.

Five months since graduation, and he had already extended his fief by a good 50%, added a new ninja clan to his ranks along with a complete fleet, and established trade outposts that would guarantee his hold over trade in the eastern sea. _'Kami-sama, it's good to be me.'_

* * *

A week later, they reached Konoha and went to the Hokage. Considering the nature of both the mission and the intel they brought with them, the debriefing was made in front of the council. Once the group entered the room, Hiashi went to his seat calmly and looked over the council. The clan heads seemed completely bored, they had already guessed what happened so they didn't really want to bother themselves, but that was the procedure. The civilians on the other hand, were curious and wanted to know how the trip would affect trade in the region. The Sandaime came into the room and sat on his chair.

"Very well, this will be a short meeting; I have much to do so I don't have time for hours of discussions. What are the results of the trip? Did the Tide Daimyo agree?"

Hiashi nodded. "Discussing the details took some time, but the Tide Daimyo agreed, Whirlpool commercial outposts are currently being built along Tide's northern coast."

"Hmm, I see. Naruto-kun, who did you recruit to take care of these outposts?" Asked the wizened leader.

The blond smiled. "The Kazeshio clan, formerly of Wind. They had little to no ties with Suna, thus ensuring I wouldn't have to deal with spies, and I got them out of a difficult situation, thus earning their loyalty. I talked with them, they are sailors, and even though they train a bit in ninjutsu, they don't lie much. They are honest and loyal to Whirlpool."

Hiruzen nodded, satisfied with the answer. "Good, good. Now, what of Wave?"

"They decided to integrate the fief of Whirlpool." Was Naruto's answer.

"Uzumaki-sama." Said Saki Haruno, gaining the attention of the whole room. "Surely managing all these trade routes must be difficult. Konoha's Mercantile Guild would be happy to lend you its services and experience. May I invite you for diner to discuss the agreement?" Said the pinkette with a charming smile. But it was in vain.

"I'm afraid that will not be possible Haruno-san." Said Naruto apologetically. "As you said during the last meeting where we attended, my fief is still recovering, so we need all the benefits to help Whirlpool, and now Wave. As for the diner, it would have been with pleasure, but I have errands I must run." Answered Naruto with a polite smile.

Saki nodded her acceptance of the answer, not that she had much choice. The fact that he threw her words back in her face wasn't pleasant, far from that.

"Alright, is everything covered?" Asked the Hokage. "Good. Team seven, report to my office tomorrow, I know I'm asking a lot out of your team, but you are my best genin team, and I need you on a special mission."

Hiruzen then rose to his feet and left. Sasuke smirked, feeling his talents were finally recognized, Sakura smiled proudly at being part of such a team, Kakashi simply shrugged it off, but Naruto couldn't help but feel the compliment, while honest, was there to keep them off his back. With a shrug, he left the room and went to his apartment. _'Note to self, find a new flat.' _

* * *

**_Author Note : _**

_And done! So, what do you think? I hope you liked it. I got a review some time ago saying that the dream part in chap 2 was a good addition, so I added another there.  
_

_Anyway, time to tell you more about the clans present and name those that sent them._

_Clan 1, the Raisotsu Clan, by Uzumaki Ricky. (Raisotsu = Son of Lightning)._

_Keikkei genkai : Ability to use special types of Lightning (lightnings of different colour), very high Lightning affinity.  
_

_Specialty : Ninjutsu, obviously, along with kenjutsu  
_

_Notable fact: possess two summoning contracts, the Raijuu (thunder spirits with polymorphic tendencies, able to take the form of a cat, a weasel, a wolf or a fox) and the Kirin (Holy beast of immense power) though noone has been able to wield the last in over a century and a half. _

_Previous location : Lightning country.  
_

_Physical particularities : Electric blue eyes, yellow eyes._

_Notable characters :  
_

_Raisotsu __Rairō _(introduced in this chapter). Has three kids :  


_Raisotsu Raiden, looks like his father without the scars, modest and mischievious, hates to be called a genius. Uses Kenjutsu, close to mid-range ninjutsu. Same age as Naruto. Slightly perverted. _

_Raisotsu Yugara, looks a lot like her twin brother (just above) but with longer hair, serious, though more relaxed in private.  
_

_Raisotsu Ryuge : 6 and a half years old, a lot like Raiden, but more hyperactive._

_Particularity : The Raisotsu claim to be descended from the God of Thunder Narukami, have a deep seated hatred of rape, and are a tightly-knit familly._

_Clan 2, the Yūbokumin Clan (Yūbokumin = nomads), by Ikaruga._

_Kekkei genkai : Some dispositions as chakra sensors_

_Specialty : Exploration, scouting_

_Notable fact : Survivalist mentallity, very independent, once part of Uzushiogakure, separated into splinter factions at the fall of the village._

_Previous location : All around the elemental nation and a bit outside_

_Physical particularities : None  
_

_Notable members :_

_Yukobumin Senku, clan head, seized leadership of the clan through a fight to the death. (Will be introduced later in the story)._

_Clan 3, the Bakeneko clan, by WhiteLionXIII_

_Kekkei genkai :Partnership with cats, the bond is formed minutes after the birth. The clan member shares hair and eye colour with his feline partner. They have ability to talk to any, and I mean ANY cat.  
_

_Specialty : Infiltration, assassination  
_

_Notable fact : Once part of Uzushio, unusually flexible and nimble (cat like). Should their partner reach a certain treshold of power, their tail split and they become bakeninneko (monster ninja cat).  
_

_Previous location : wandering.  
_

_Physical particularities :Some cat traits.  
_

___Notable members :_

___Bakeneko Kamikiba, clan head, young (20), turns to his elders for advice when needed. Blue slitted eyes, white mane. (Will be introduced later)._

___Kamitsume, Kamikiba's partner, only registered Bakeninneko in the history of the clan. White lion. (Will be introduced later)_

___clan 4, the Mononoke clan, by Culebra del Sol_

_Kekkei genkai :Strong connection to the spiritual world and the animal spirits.  
_

_Specialty : Summoning, shapeshifting into the spirit they are most attuned to.  
_

_Notable fact : They are spiritists and priests, often don robe-like clothing, and have a strong link to a type of spirit that varies depending on the individual. They are able to summon spirits such as the kitsune or tengu to come to their aid.  
_

_Previous location : Unknown.  
_

_Physical particularities :Tall a wiry, with oil-black and pale skin.  
_

_____Notable members :_

_____Mononoke Hazama, has a connection to snake spirits and a pet Habu snake named Dokuhime (poison princess, lol, I love that snake already), he looks somewhat like Orochimaru (though I won't make him a pedo), and has red eyes._

_____Anyway, it's done! I hope it will incitate you all to post your clans, and know that most of the clans submitted were altered compared to their first draft, so if I tell you something might pose a problem, just come up with something else ^^ I hope to hear from you all soon!_


	5. Chapter 5

**_Author Note:_**

_Hello dear reader! No, I am NOT dead! It's just that I'm in my second year of studies of Law ... again. And I kinda want to pass this time around so ... yeah, I don't have as much time for writing. But I'm still writing, don't worry. For those interested in it, Born of Wickedness will (relatively) soon have a fourth chapter._

_Anyway, in this chapter you will finally have what you have been waiting for! The Hyuga Twins are stepping onto the stage!_

* * *

The next day, the team gathered in front of the Hokage's secretary's desk, waiting to be all present before going in. Once the last of them arrived, Kakashi nodded to the secretary who told the Hokage through the interphone, they didn't have to wait long before being sent in. Standing in front of their leader, they wondered what kind of mission he could have assigned them. Hiruzen looked over them, reconsidering one last time his choice, before nodding in approval.

"Team 7, you are here for a mission of the utmost importance. As you know, our relations with Kumo are … strained. Because of that, the Daimyo of Hot Water and Frost worry. They know that, should a war between the Leaf and the Cloud break out, their countries would be the battlefield. Because of this, they have tried for a long time to pacify our relations with Kumo. Recently, they requested a joint C-rank. Frost will hire a team from Kumo, while our client is Hot Water."

Hiruzen looked at the ninja before him. They all stood at attention, even if the female part of the squad didn't really give a professional impression.

"I selected your team for this mission. One of the reasons is that it concerns one of you." Said the Sandaime while looking at Naruto.

Said blond smiled wickedly. "So, the pirates made their move, huh?"

Sarutobi nodded, not surprised in the least that Naruto expected that. "You will meet the Kumo team in a port town in Hot Water, near the border with Frost. Your first objective is the elimination of a raiding party originated from the Susanoo's Teeth archipelago in cooperation with the team from Kumo, your secondary objective is to learn the current status of the Hyuga sisters. Once the pirates have been eliminated, you will escort the Kumo team to Konoha, they have been enlisted for the chunin exams. Gai's team will accompany you on the way and back, they have a mission of their own, you will choose the rendezvous point with them."

Hiruzen took a scroll on his desk and threw it to Kakashi, who caught it effortlessly. "Both Daimyo will be there to welcome your teams, I expect you to be on your best behaviour. If you can, wound Kumo's image, but not at the cost of ours. Show them your level; don't forget to mention that you'll take part in the chunin exams, hopefully it will demoralize them and they'll give up. Any questions?"

Sakura raised her hand. "Umm, who did the pirates attack?"

"A trade ship from Whirlpool. Anything else?"

No one reacted this time.

"Good. You leave in an hour at the North Gate. Pack for a month at least. Dismissed."

Naruto decided to take the scenic view to the North Gate, stopping at a small stand to grab a few pastries. On his way to the Gate, he crossed road with Tenten.

"Yo, Tenten!"

The bun haired girl turned when her name was called, and smiled warmly. "Naruto! Good to see you! It's been a while, where were you? You're not avoiding me, are you?" Asked Tenten in a mock hurt tone.

"No, I just had my plate full. I just came back yesterday from a business trip to Tide with Hiashi with a stop at Wave. By the way, they asked to join Whirlpool."

"Oh, that's good. So, how's the part about Susanoo's Teeth going? Any move from the pirates?"

"Yup, that's why we're moving to Hot Water. You know, that idea of yours is probably the craziest thing I've ever tried."

"Oh come on, I already told you, the plan will work!"

"I know, it's just that it will be the craziest thing I've done so far. But Daijiro absolutely loves it, he was ready to come to Konoha and adopt you for thinking of it."

Tenten snorted. "Sounds like a fun guy."

"He is. A bit crazed, and a tad bit on the cliché side of the sailor, but he does his job just fine. Besides, he's a badass."

"Tell me about it, sinking a quarter of Kiri's fleet is no small feat. Anyway, Gai-sensei told us that your mission was ultra-important, what is it?"

"A coop mission with Kumo, we'll try to gather intel on Neji's cousins and demoralize the Kumo team. Oh, and I'll probably get to see two other Daimyo treating me like I'm Kami-sama herself. It's gonna be a fun mission."

"Tsk, ploticians. I bet you get a kick out of it."

"Yup, I do. What can I say, here I'm lower than dirt, but out there I'm practically royalty. Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't go to Whirlpool once I've made chunin, just to be left in peace. Meh, I doubt Konoha would allow it."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you later, let's just say that I had a reason to chose to be Kitsune."

"Okay. Tell me when you're ready. Speaking of the Gauntlet, Danzo-sama sent me another request for weapons. I can't understand why he keeps asking ME to make his weapons, I mean, I'm just a beginner. Maybe that's because I was trained in the Gauntlet."

''_Yeah, more like because you're a genius with a forge hammer.'_ Thought Naruto. "So, I heard from Neji that you developed some kind of chakra ear-plug?"

"You met Neji?"

"He's Hiashi's nephew. I saw him during a diner at the Hyuga compound, just before the business trip."

"Oh, OK. Hmm? I would have expected sensei and Lee to be there already." Mumbled Tenten as the gate came into view.

"They probably went on a few laps around the village, like they always scream about."

"Yeah probably."

They continued chatting idly, Neji joining them when he arrived. When Sasuke came to the gate, he pointedly ignored them, despite the polite acknowledgment Neji sent his way, irked that everything seemed to revolve around his team-mate lately. Then came Sakura, who went to sit next to the Uchiha, daydreaming as usual, and Kakashi, who simply stood there, reading his book. Then …

"Dynamic Entry!"

A green blur appeared, flying towards Kakashi … who simply grabbed its ankle and threw it away. Only then did the silver-haired man's gaze left his book. Looking at the blur who, once stopped, revealed itself to be Gai, Kakashi eye-smiled. "Hmm? Did you say something Gai?" The green beast laughed boisterously, and began sprouting nonsense about Youth and whatever, causing Naruto to tune him out. Looking around, he saw the last member of team Gai, the spandex clad Rock Lee, coming towards them.

"Greetings! I am Rock Lee! May I ask your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto. Broody is Uchiha Sasuke and Pinky is Haruno Sakura."

Lee looked at Sakura, and gulped as a blush came to his face. "Such an angel." He muttered.

"No she's not." Interrupted Naruto flatly. Seeing the revolted face Lee was giving him, Naruto spoke again before the green genin could. "Look, I've been in her class for a long time, even had a crush on her, she just beat me up at every turn because she considered I was in the way of her 'one true love' which by the way is broody here. She's not an angel, she's a fangirl."

Lee still looked revolted. "If you had gotten to know her, I'm sure she wouldn't have hit you."

"That's the thing; I WANTED to get to know her, if only to have a friend, she just kept hitting me. But if you want to try, be my guest." Said Naruto, looking away from Lee, thus signifying he had nothing else to say. Lee left in a huff and approached Sakura. After an overly enthusiastic introduction and a glare from Sasuke, he received a fist to the face courtesy of Sakura, along with a scream of "Leave me alone you freak!"

Lee, depressed and nursing his cheek, went back to the group. "Told you." Said Naruto. Suddenly, a fire alit in Lee's eyes. "Yosh! It matters not, I shall train more and show her my strength, and she shall fall for me!"

Naruto looked at him for a second before sighing. "While I'll gleefully admit Sakura is shallow, I don't think she's THAT shallow." Lee's face began to distort in anger. "How dare you talk of her like that! She's not …"

"Oh really? Then why did she hit you without getting to know you? She doesn't do that to everyone; she just decided to judge you based on your looks and attitude, without getting to know you. If THAT isn't a shallow behaviour, then tell me what is."

Lee tried to argue, but nothing came to his mind. With a frown, he remained silent. Then a hand fell on his shoulder, a brightly smiling Gai behind him. "Worry not my student! Pour your heartache in training, and you shall swoon her with your strength!" Lee immediately followed his teacher and they began some sort of contest to be the most ridiculous possible, with sunset and rivers of tears. Naruto looked at it blankly before turning to Kakashi. "He's single, isn't he?" Kakashi nodded. "I see. *sigh* It's going to be a long trip."

* * *

The trip was mostly calm, even if there was a rising tension between Naruto and Lee, and now, on the last night they would spend in the same campsite, it was at its peak. Lee kept sending dark glares to Naruto, and it was getting on the blonde's nerves, the fact that Neji and Tenten seemed to agree with the foxy teen certainly didn't help. The tension was such that Gai and Kakashi decided to get involved. Once diner was eaten, they signalled their teams to sit around the fire.

"Alright." Began Kakashi. "There seems to bit a bit of tension in the air." Naruto snorted, but his teacher ignored it. "And it would be better if the situation was resolved."

"Indeed, such unyouthful atmosphere is detrimental to the missions." Supplied Gai. "Naruto, Lee, may you explain the reasons of this dispute?"

"I told him a few things, he didn't like it." Said Naruto curtly. He was in a sour mood, and definitely didn't want this shit to keep going.

"What? You belittled the beauty and mind of my beautiful cherry blossom!" Bellowed Lee.

Sakura, ticked off, rose to her feet and sledgehammered Lee's face into the ground via her fist. "I told you to leave me the fuck alone you freak!" She then turned to Naruto, seething. "As for you …"

The blonde's eyes met hers and flashed red as he snapped. "What?" Sakura, nervous, stepped back, and returned to her seat, muttering a "nothing" fearfully.

"Good. Now Lee-san, I never said she was ugly or stupid, I said she's a fangirl, it's her personality I criticized."

Lee springing back to his feet, glared angrily and Naruto. "You have no right to do so! You don't know her, yet you behave so unyouthfully tow…"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Naruto was now beyond pissed, and his eyes flashed red every few seconds, to the increasing worry of the jonin. "I'm tired of your childish behaviour. I've known that bitch since childhood, spent five years in her class, I know her more than you do. It pisses you off that I don't act like a moron like you? Tough luck. I'm a feudal lord; the tiniest of my mistakes can end hundreds of lives and destroy thousands. I don't have the luxury of being stupid." Naruto paused to breathe deeply and calm down, his eyes stopping to flash red. "Now, I easily admit I may be biased on matters that pertain to Haruno, but you are falling for her looks without knowing her, and when I told you things as I saw them, instead of taking them into account, you immediately denied them and decided that you, who barely knew her, if at all, knew better than me, who spent a few years knowing her, and then proceeded to berate me. Even more, you refused to acknowledge the numerous evidences, namely the hits, that I was right and blamed the whole situation on me, something that makes me want to cave your face in. If you don't want to grow up, it's not my problem, just stay away from me." With that, Naruto rose to his feet and jumped to a high branch.

"I'll take first watch."

Lee looked at Naruto's back, gobsmacked. A genin one year his junior had just berated him and called him childish, and even though he wanted to deny it, Naruto had raised a few good points. Silently, he made his way to his tent, mulling over what was said.

Gai on his part was shocked with the way Naruto had talked, and he was quite surprised to learn that Naruto was a feudal lord. Looking at Kakashi, he spoke dryly. "I didn't recall any report mentioning Naruto being so … unyouthful."

"Let's say the Mizuki incident awoke a part of him that knows life isn't all games and laugh." Was the jonin's answer.

* * *

Naruto was standing in sewers. He didn't know why, and it bothered him. He remembered standing guard with Neji, then waking Sakura and Tenten to take the second watch before going to rest in his tent. Then, he found himself in this sewer. Looking around carefully, he notices several hallways. Trying to peer into the darkness, images come to his mind, most too vague to be understood.

"Hey, finally came to visit."

Turning around, Naruto is surprised to see … himself. But more ethereal, almost see-through.

"Kitsune?"

"Yup. Welcome in the mindscape. Fluffy wanna talk to you, so he pulled you here, I wish I could do that too though. Anyway, it's over there."

Naruto followed his evanescent image and reached a gigantic room with a mighty cage, the Kyubi clearly visible behind the bars. He expected a demented demon of destruction constantly screaming for blood, but what he saw was a calm fox (if a bit big) seemingly pondering something. Levelling his gaze on Naruto, the Kyubi seemed to assess him while the blond did the same.

"You're not what I expected. I thought you'd be … less calm."

"**That is to be expected."** Answered the fox in his deep rumbling voice. **"And until a few hours ago, you'd have been right."** Naruto raised an eyebrow in curiosity. **"When the Yondaime sealed me in you, he took away half of my chakra, the Yin part, thus resulting in a weakening of my mind and causing me to more easily succumb to my beastly instincts. I became more violent, more prone to mindless destruction."**

"Considering you attacked Konoha for fun, I'm not sure you can be any more prone to mindless destruction."

"**Oh really? *chuckle* Tell me boy, do you really think a fox of my size can sneak up on a village? No. I was sealed, in your mother to be exact, and was manipulated into attacking your village. I will explain more later. In the direction you are going, there are two … I don't know how to name them. They feel human, but like a part of me at the same time. I always felt them, but far away, as if through a thick cloud, but now it is clearer. I feel the need to protect them, and not only because through them my Yin chakra is regenerating. It is a strange feeling, a primal want I never felt before."**

Naruto looked at the Kyubi for a moment, trying to understand the possibilities. "Just so I know, do you have a human form?"

"**No, I do not. Why this question?"**

"Well, you said they felt like part of you, but still human, so I thought maybe you had children before being captured."

Kyubi gave the idea a thought, considering it carefully. **"Maybe you are right. I remember two fools, they bore the mark of the Cloud. They managed to steal some of my chakra, it may have affected them more deeply than I thought and have affected their children in turn. Whoever they are, investigate this matter for me, and I shall help you."**

"And if they happen to be your 'children'?"

"**We will see when we see them."**

Naruto nodded then turned to Kitsune. "Since we're both here, maybe we should try and finish the merging."

Kitsune nodded.

* * *

Yugito stretched her back contentedly. She had the occasion to spend a good night of sleep in a very comfy bed for the first time in months. Since the formation of her team, the Raikage had done all he could to keep them out of Kumo, assigning them to C-rank missions as soon as he could, as a result her team was without a doubt the best of Kumo, probably even better than some chunin teams, and that was why they had been sent on this mission. She was glad they had arrived before the Konoha team; it gave them time to rest a bit before the mission. Rising to her feet, she went through her morning routine, enjoying the hot shower thoroughly, before going down to the common area of the inn they were staying at.

The Daimyo had paid for the best inn of the town, something Yugito was grateful for. Luckily, this morning was relatively peaceful so far, that must mean Atsui hadn't gotten on Hanabi's nerves yet. As she entered the room, she witnessed the explosion.

* * *

Team seven jumped down from the roofs, landing in front of the inn they were supposed to meet the Daimyo and Kumo team at. They were about to enter … but the door exploded, a blond Kumo genin flying through it.

"SHUT THE HELL UP YOU TEMPERATURE OBSESSED FREAK!"

A dark blue and crème blur then followed the downed genin, revealing itself to be a girl with midnight hair held in a hime cut with a low ponytail falling from the back, fox ears and a bushy tail, all of the same colour. Interestingly, she didn't have any headband. Oh, and she was shaking the life out of the poor boy.

"IF I HEAR YOU MUTTERING THE WORD HOT EVEN ONE MORE TIME I WILL PUT SO MUCH PEPPER IN YOUR FOOD THAT YOUR TONGUE WILL TURN BLACK!"

Another girl, identical to the first, only with her hair straight, ran after her and tried to get her sister to release the almost knocked out blonde.

"Sister, we are here for a mission, we must be professional!"

"I don't care! I can't stand that idiot anymore! I'm bordering on taking my showers cold out of spite!"

"Girls!"

Both girls turned to the blond woman who just emerged from the inn, looking absolutely pissed. "First, you're supposed to act professionally, something you are not doing. Second, hitting your team-mates is forbidden, no matter how annoying they can be, if it was allowed, Kami-sama so help me, I would have beaten the living rap out of Bee. Third, don't get out without your headbands, and fourth be grateful the Konoha team is not here, can you imagine the image it would give of our village?"

Kakashi chose this moment to make their presence known with an 'ahem'. Yugito looked at them, and dropped her head in defeat. Then, a gobsmaked Naruto managed to regain enough control over his mind to ask the question that was going through his mind for the last five minutes or so.

"Foxy ladies, what the heck are you doing out of my dreams?"

The two girls turned their gaze to Naruto, revealing their very wide eyes to be Byakugan, slightly shocking Kakashi. Then a smile overcame their features and they glomped Naruto. "Dream-kun~!"

Yugito and Kakashi were both looking at this with wide eyes, wondering what the heck was exactly going on. Sasuke smirked evilly, thinking of something to put Naruto in difficulty.

"Dobe, care to explain why you know shinobi from an enemy village?"

A tick mark appeared on the forehead of one Uzumaki and two Hyuga, but Naruto answered nonetheless.

"Bitch, if I was a spy, do you really think my contacts would be a couple of genin? And two genin who were abducted in Konoha no less?"

"And who only dream of going back home." Added the one with the hime cut.

"You didn't answer my question, _dobe_." He spat smugly.

Hinata had enough. She rose to her feet and planted herself in front of the Uchiha. She closed her eyes for a moment, breathed deeply … Then reopened them while activating her Byakugan. Suddenly, Sasuke found breathing difficult and took hold of his throat.

"Are you sure that _you_ are not the _dobe_? The answer to your question lies in his first question. How, I do not know, but for many nights we shared our dreams. Now think a little bit, do you really think a spy would have reacted this way?"

She then deactivated her byakugan, and the Uchiha began gulping air frantically. Sakura tried to help her crush while glaring hatefully at the retreating Hyuga. Wanting at least some payback on the bitch (in her opinion) who unjustly (in her opinion again) attacked her Sasuke-kun, she tried to release killing intent. She smirked when she saw the Hyuga stop and begin to shake slightly.

"Sister … I'm afraid; I think a fly wants to kill me. *giggle*" Sakura's eyes widened at the dismissal of her killing intent and realised the girl was in fact shaking with restrained laughter, which enraged her even more.

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Asked Kakashi.

"That was Hinata-nee's patented glare." Answered happily the one with the hime cut. "She didn't glare anyone to death yet, but she's getting better at it."

Kakashi sweat dropped. "Alright, since we'll work together, maybe we should introduce ourselves. I am Hatake Kakashi, jonin of Konoha."

"Hn, Uchiha Sasuke." Grunted the avenger while glaring at Hinata.

"Haruno Sakura." Said the pinkette in a cold tone while glaring at Hinata too. Said girl seemed to be about as bothered by the glares as she was with the rain … and it was a sunny day.

"Uzumaki Naruto, genin of Konoha and Lord of Whirlpool, at your service." Said Naruto with a bow and a charming smile at the Hyuga sisters. As one, they sighed dreamily.

"Sister, he's a prince."

"It keeps getting better and better."

"Quiet you two; you can flirt with him later. I am Nii Yugito, elite jonin of Kumogakure and the poor woman supposed to contain these two little tornadoes of mischief." Said the blond while glaring playfully at the two girls who answered with a vulpine grin and a happy swish of their tails.

"My name is Atsui." said the blonde. "And I'm the hottest guy in Kumo!"

"Sweet, now he's delusional too, like his obsession with 'hot' wasn't enough."

"Hey!"

"Quiet. Go on."

"I am Hyuga Hinata, it is a pleasure to meet you." Said the girl with the straight hair, then she looked at Naruto lovingly, blushing slightly. "Especially you." The blonde blushed and smiled happily.

"I am Hyuga Hanabi, nice to meet you." Said Hanabi flatly, then a bit more excitedly. "Now, can we take Dream-kun to the hot springs? We gotta get to know each other."

"WHAT? Young lady I hope this is a joke. Do you really expect me to let you two go alone in the hot springs with a boy you barely met?"

"Yes."

Yugito face palmed. "Let me put it that way. I refuse to let you go alone to the hot springs with a boy you barely met, I'd ask to come along. Considering the state of the relations with Konoha, I have no doubt that Kakashi-san would …"

"I don't mind." Said Kakashi with an eye smile, causing Yugito to stop abruptly, her mouth still open, and slowly turn to him.

"What?" She breathed in shock.

"I know Naruto is a responsible young man, and you can't exactly do anything to him without your country and village facing dire consequences. So I don't mind."

"Thanks!" exclaimed Hanabi. "You're now officially a cool guy in my book Kakashi-san! Come Hinata-nee, Dream-kun, the hot springs are over there!"

With a last disbelieving look at Kakashi, Yugito followed the three youth to the hot springs. There wasn't much talking done on the way, mostly the girls clinging to the boy, with his arms wrapped around their waists. The owner of the hot spring was a bit surprised by their ears and tails, but not as much as the first time they had come here, what completely shocked him was the fact that they requested a pool where they could all go together. The man sent a jealous glare to Naruto, wishing he was the one who would see Yugito naked. The two others were too young for him.

Once they had their pool, they went to the changing room, and saw a little problem, there was no separation. Hanabi was ready to undress then and there, and Hinata wasn't far behind, but Naruto's politeness surfaced at this moment and he offered to wait near the pool until they were finished, thus earning some points in Yugito's book. Once everyone was in a towel, they settled in the spring, the sisters quickly pressing themselves against a blushing Naruto who was enjoying the skin contact. Over the course of two hours, the asked as many questions as they could about their clan, Konoha and himself. Of course, Naruto asked a few questions of his own, but he didn't really ask about Kumo, mainly because he had no intention of setting foot in there. Yugito assessed him carefully, and was satisfied with what she saw. He was careful not to divulge any secret of his village but was still answering truthfully to the girls. Taking advantage of pause in the conversation, Yugito talked for the first time.

"You said you are the Lord of Whirlpool, aren't you a bit young?"

Naruto turned his gaze to her and his eyes suddenly became arctic cold.

"I am afraid I am the last Uzumaki currently alive and aware of his legacy. Your village and Kiri did a thorough job in destroying my clan and land."

Yugito winced. "Sorry."

"It's okay, considering the casualties you suffered in the assault, I'd be quite stupid to believe my clansmen didn't avenge themselves."

Yugito nodded. "How is your fief doing?"

"Quite good. I'll soon be securely established as a major trading power with shinobi specialising in barriers."

Yugito nodded and analysed what was told. The kid had been way too relaxed concerning this information, meaning it was either common knowledge or what he wanted her to believe.

"I heard you took over a small country."

"That's a lie! My samurai simply freed Wave from a tyrannical tycoon! It was Wave's choice to ask for integration!" answered Naruto indignantly.

"Your samurai? Not your ninja militia?"

"Against a bunch of thugs? No, my samurai are trained enough that they could eliminate those fools easily."

Yugito nodded, noting that not once had he given any sign of lying. That meant he hadn't told them the whole truth. He was far too good a shinobi, from what she had seen, to simply be a benevolent boy.

"I also heard you had Daijiro the Kraken under your orders, don't you fear Kiri's answer?"

"Ah yeah? Daijiro kicked their asses while severely outnumbered and equipped with repurposed fishing ships, right now he has a complete warfleet, I'd like to see these fog-suckers try and to attack me, the first ass-whooping Daijiro gave them would look like a peck compared to what he'd do to them now."

Yugito nodded carefully. "And what will you do about the ship that was attacked?"

"I'll send a message to Daijiro, maybe he can clean up a few islands as an example for the other pirate groups." Yugito noted that he didn't say everything, and filed this information for later.

"I see. Well, maybe we should return to the inn, the Daimyo may have been busy today, but they should be done soon. Let's go."

Once again, Naruto waited for the girls to be done before stepping in the changing room. Interestingly, while he was dressing, he heard Yugito forbidding Hanabi from using the Byakugan and said young woman saying that it was to make sure there wasn't any danger in a way too innocent voice. With a smirk, Naruto finished dressing.

They then returned to the inn, with Naruto enjoying the jealousy of the teens his age that saw him with two hot fox ladies clinging to him. When they finally reached the inn, they saw that Atsui was on one side of the inn with Sasuke and Sakura on the other side, glaring at the lone blond. In the middle, seating near a table, his face buried in his book, was Kakashi. The group went to sit with him, quickly joined by Atsui, who was sending envious glances to Naruto. Kakashi then motioned his two other students to come nearer, something they did reluctantly.

"Alright." Said Kakashi. "The Daimyo of Frost and Hot Water should arrive soon; they were busy for the day discussing a border problem. We were hired for a joint mission so try to at least look willing to cooperate, even if you don't like each other, ok?"

Sasuke gave a grunt and Sakura looked downright rebellious, but a quick glare from Kakashi silenced her before she could protest. Then, the two teams made their way to the most luxurious part of the inn and the old fashioned reception room inside. Eight cushions had been placed on the ground, allowing them to kneel there. Sakura, who never had to sit on a cushion before, tried to imitate the others but with mitigated results and her heels and calf hurting like hell. On a side note, she wasn't the only one struggling; Atsui also seemed to have problems with this position. Surprisingly, Naruto was completely unmoving and regal looking.

They waited a few moments before the door opened and the two daimyo walked in. The frost daimyo was an old man who's hair and beard had probably once been a vibrant purple, but in his old age had turned a pale purple. His hair was short and spiky, kept under a hat with a metal plate bearing his country's symbol, akin to a headband. He had a moustache and a long beard, the two not being connected. He wore a purple kimono with light blue trimmings. The Hot Water daimyo was also an elderly man. He had black eyes, a grey moustache and a strange headwear bearing his country's emblem. He wore dark shirt and pants and a sleeveless yellow jacket with red trimmings. The two daimyo sat side by side, opposite to the two teams, and took a moment to take in their appearance. They had been busy and didn't have time to meet any of the teams, so they were a bit surprised to see two fox-girls, but it didn't stop them.

"Greetings." Said the Frost daimyo. "We are glad to see both of your teams here, and are most satisfied to see you ready to work together."

"Now, we would like to know who will take care of our mission." Said the Hot Water daimyo.

Kakashi eye-smiled to Yugito. "You got the most ladies on your team, so you go first." The jinchuriki snorted in amusement.

"I am Nii Yugito, elite jonin of Kumo and leader of Team White."

"I am Atsui, genin of Kumo."

"I am Hyuga Hinata, genin of Kumo, to my dismay."

"I am Hyuga Hanabi, genin of Kumo, like my sis said."

Both daimyo looked a bit nervous now, the prospect of having a potential incident regarding the abducted Hyuga taking place in this town was far from comforting. Besides, the blonde genin from Konoha was rising all kind of alarms in the back of their minds, he looked far too confident.

"I am Hatake Kakashi, elite jonin of Konoha and leader of team seven." Said Kakashi in his lazy voice. Hearing that THE Hatake Kakashi, the Copycat ninja himself, was in this town with war material not even five meters from him made the daimyo exchange a worried glance.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke, genin of Konoha and heir of the Uchiha clan." Said Sasuke in his ever so arrogant voice.

"I am Haruno Sakura, genin of Konoha and daughter of Haruno Saki, head of the Konoha Mercantile Guild." Sakura said. While her mother's guild was well known, it didn't really make any difference in the eyes of the daimyo, but she didn't know that.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto." At this both daimyo opened wide eyes. "Genin of Konoha, heir of the Uzumaki clan and Lord of Whirlpool." Now the daimyo looked like they wanted to bow, but couldn't since they were the ones that hired him. Of course, this only served to irk Sasuke further.

"Uzumaki-sama." Said the Hot Water daimyo nervously. "What a pleasure to welcome you here. Would you like a better place to stay at? I am sure the mayor wouldn't mind giving you free access to his mansion for the duration of your stay."

"Nonsense, I am a ninja and you are my client, don't worry." Said Naruto with a dazzling smile, putting both older men at ease. "Now, may I know where the pirates who attacked my ship are? I would be delighted to have an occasion to explain to them exactly why messing with Whirlpool is a bad idea."

The Hot Water daimyo collected a folder and took out a map of his country's coast.

"The attack happened here, near the border with Frost. It already happened several times. If it is still the same pirate gang, then they will slowly move along my coast until they reach this small peninsula, from there they will go into Susanoo's Teeth and disappear until the next raiding season. This kind of attacks has plagued our countries for the last decade, and no matter what we tried, we never managed to eliminate them."

"This is why we requested your team, Yugito-san." Said the Frost daimyo. "I have heard that you have the two best trackers of Kumo in your team. We would have hired jonin teams, but both villages declined, stating that pirates were not high enough priority targets to justify the allocation of a jonin team. We were told that your respective teams are the best genin of your villages, so we place our hopes and trust in you."

"It is an honour, Daimyo-sama." Said Yugito, bowing.

"Daimyo-sama." Interjected Naruto. "May I know how many crew-members of my ship survived?"

"That is what impresses us, Uzumaki-sama, no sailor of Whirlpool perished; it is the first time that a commercial crew drove off a pirate attack." Naruto smiled proudly.

"Thank you for reassuring me Daimyo-sama. May we know in which port is the ship? I have no doubt that interviewing the crew might help our trackers." Noted Naruto. The Daimyo nodded and told them the ship was in this very port, awaiting them.

* * *

"Crew on the deck! Lord Uzumaki is on the ship!"

Sailors rushed from every part of the ship, quickly forming a line to salute their Lord. The commercial ship was a junk ship, 250 feet long and 90 feet wide, with a dark blue battened sail, the swirl of Whirlpool sewn in bright red on it. Many imagined sailors as rugged, wearing ragged clothing, but those were wearing full gi, pants and jacket, in dark blue colour, the crest of Whirlpool prominent on their back.

"At ease captain." Said Naruto jovially. "Don't worry, we won't stay long. I believe you were attacked by pirates?"

"We were my Lord."

"Alright, girls, what information do you need?"

Hinata stepped forward and bowed politely to the man.

"Good day sir, could you please tell us what type of ship attacked you, how many pirates there were, their tactics, overall equipment and training please?"

"Certainly young lady."

"Umm, excuse me." Said Sakura. "Aren't you freaked out that some fox girl is talking to you?"

This of course got her a glare from Hinata, Hanabi, Yugito, Kakashi and Naruto.

"No, not really. You know, I've seen a squid-man dancing atop the waters, so not much can surprise me." Now the captain got a lot of surprised stares. "Well, admittedly, I was drunk, but still, after that you're hard pressed to be surprised."

* * *

**_Author Note :_**

_And done. Next chapter will be the mission. Anyway, I noticed that I failed to tell you about my own OC clan in last chapter, so I'll correct that right now!_

_Okami Clan, by my very own self!_

_Kekkei Genkai : None._

_Specialty : Kenjutsu, Ninjutsu to a lesser extent, commando actions._

_Notable facts : Formerly a clan of Samurai from a long gone empire, picked up their commando tendencies from this time._

_Previous locations : Earth Country, North part._

_Physical particularities : Hair tends to be black, huge stamina due to grueling physical training._

_Notable characters :_

_Okami Keiko, Clan head, head administrator of Whirlpool, calm, patient and friendly._

_Okami Izumo, Clan head's husband, Clan champion, jokes by calling himself the clan's "first lady", Mr Daddy._

_Okami Wataru, Chief Elder, previous clan head, nicknamed the Thunder Wolf. Likes to complain about 'youngsters' but loves to take care of the clan's kids._

_Okami Izumi, Keiko and Izumo's daughter, next in line for clan head, cheerful, sometimes a bit bossy._

_Okami Hayate, Izumi's twin, next in line as clan archivist, loves peace and quiet._

_Akane, Orphan more or less adopted into the clan, Izumi's best friend, tend to get on Hayate's nerves. Bubbly, lifeloving, cheerful._

_And that's it for the Okami clan. Anyway, tell me what you think of this chapter ^^_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author Note :**_

_Hello beloved readers! No, this time it isn't only an author note! It is a chapter! Hurray!_

_Anyway, onto the story.  
_

* * *

Naruto followed his teacher and team-mates through the inn, they were going for a little 'team debrief'. No one was fooled; no one would have been, so Kakashi didn't bother hiding the purpose of this meeting very well. They were going to discuss the Hyuga heiresses. Kakashi opened the door to the small conference room and motioned for them to sit while he placed seals to ensure privacy. Naruto sat calmly on the left of his teacher's seat, and waited for him to finish. Once that was done, the grey haired man sat. Sasuke was on his right, and Sakura right in front of him.

"So." Said the jonin. "What do you think we should do about these new developments?" Asked Kakashi in a completely relaxed voice.

"What do you mean sensei?" Asked Sakura, looking slightly lost. Perhaps Naruto had overestimated her.

"Sakura, what do you know exactly about our relations with Kumo?" Asked Naruto.

"Well … We have a cold war with Kumo because they abducted two girls."

"And what name did the two girls on Kumo's team give?"

Sakura's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "These two are the …" She slammed her head on the table. "Dammit. How could I be so stupid?"

"You were distracted." Was Naruto's plain answer. "Now, I think we should send a message to HQ to warn them and tell them to call off the bounty. I also think we should avoid intimidating them."

"Why?" Asked Sasuke, a light frown on his face. "It would show Kumo that we are not to be trifled with. Some intimidation, we show them how dangerous we are, and then we force them into giving up these two."

"No, that would be counter productive. The Raikage is, from what I heard, a very proud man, if we go around showing our muscle and try to intimidate them, his defiance will cause him to shut down, and it will lead to trouble."

"What do you offer then?" Asked Sasuke.

"The only reason I could see for Kumo to send them on this mission, then to the chunin exams, would be to try to initiate negotiations. They're showing us that Hinata-chan and Hanabi-chan are safe and healthy, and they're trying to make them chunin, and what is a common assignation for chunin with ties to another village?"

"Diplomatic duties." Said Sakura. "They're trying to squeeze peace out of Konoha and shove their crime under the rug." She said with a scowl.

"Most probably." Said Kakashi lazily. "But thanks to this little guy here." He pointed at Naruto. "We have a way to put pressure on them. But for now, it is better to make it look like we're willing to let go."

"Hn, we're basically luring them into a trap." Observed Sasuke. "That would work, but as you said, the Raikage is a proud man. If we suddenly dump demands on him, he'll storm out of the room."

"Nice pun Sasuke." Said Naruto. "This is indeed a possibility, so we'll have to make it so he doesn't have a choice. Until now, the political power in Lightning simply didn't care; there was no impact on their incomes. Now, if any random civilian noble had control over the eastern sea, it wouldn't be too much of a problem, but a ninja, one whose clan was almost completely slaughtered by Kumo, and who is allied to the Hyuga, THAT will worry the Lightning Daimyo."

"And force him to act." Said Sakura, her eyes widening. "You plan to subtly threaten the Lightning Daimyo into forcing Kumo to give up the twins."

"That's not all." Said Sasuke, looking at Naruto in a calculating way. "You plan to take away Lightning's allies in Frost and Hot Water." When he noticed Sakura looking at him in surprise, he explained. "Frost's economy is focused on trade, should Naruto decide to form a blockade, Frost would lose a tremendous amount of income, they'll have no choice but to choose Naruto over Lightning."

"If everything goes well." Said Naruto. "Frost and Hot Water won't have to make this choice."

Kakashi looked at his students with pride. He began to calmly write his message while listening to Naruto and Sasuke as they explained to a shocked Sakura what a few trade outposts could do to the economy of the whole eastern part of the nations.

* * *

The two teams were crouching in the shadows of a coastal forest, looking onto a pirate harbour built into a hidden creek. No one really came in this part of Hot Water Country, and it was interestingly placed, halfway along the coast. You could guess that this harbour was only used during the 'raiding season' since most building looked to be in a mild state of disrepair, yet looked to be somewhat regularly used. In the harbour, eight small junk ships were attached to makeshift docks. Ragged looking men were walking in the open, singing (quite badly) drinking songs, and quite evidently drunk. Hinata and Hanabi had taken a look at the records, marking on the map all the emplacement of all the towns and ships attacked, and noticed that sometimes the pirates seemed to go back, yet were still 'on time' for a raid far lower on the coast. They had from this deduced that it was all a ploy to make people think they were attacked by a nomad fleet while they had a harbour hidden somewhere. From there, they had tried to determine which part of the coast would be the most likely to house said hidden harbour, and considering what they were currently seeing, they had succeeded.

"Good job girls." Murmured Yugito. The twins only smiled in answer. Kakashi gave them an appreciative nod.

"Good, now, how do we take care of them? Full on assault or poisoning of their supplies?"

"I would personally favour the second option." Said Naruto. "This harbour is quite a good location and would make a wonderful trade outpost, so I'd like to take the infrastructure, no matter how crappy, in a relatively good state."

"Do you only think about trade outposts?" Asked Sasuke, annoyed.

"Of course I don't! I also actively search for ways to make your life miserable." Answered Naruto with a cheeky grin, causing the sisters to snicker and Yugito to smirk. Of course, Sasuke and Sakura didn't share in the fun.

"Focus." Said Kakashi. "Poisoning also seems the best idea to me, but for other reasons. It would be the easiest way, but unless you stocked some poison in your scroll Naruto, we'll have to go for the first solution."

"Are you shitting me?" asked an incredulous Hanabi. "Just on the way here I saw a shit load of useful plants. Five different brands for hemorrhagic poison, three neurotoxins and at least two paralytics. And that's not counting the three taste suppressors or the two plants with pollens usable to make the poison airborne."

Sakura looked at Hanabi with a disturbed expression. "You are sick."

"No, I'm perfectly fine, but once I'm done, _they_ will be sick … to death."

"Maybe we should clarify the fields of specialty of our genin?" Kakashi asked Yugito, making the blond jonin nod.

Kakashi nodded to Sakura, prompting her to begin. "Alright, I specialize in …"

"Uselessness and loud screeching." Quipped Naruto.

Sakura clenched her fists in anger before talking through her teeth. "… in genjutsu and medical techniques."

"I specialize in ninjutsu and kenjutsu" Said Sasuke.

"And brooding." Added an ever smiling Naruto, to the annoyance of his teammates and the amusement of the Kumo team.

"And last, but far from least." Said Naruto. "I specialize in bojutsu, fuinjutsu, a bit on ninjutsu, and also on snarky remarks and smartass behaviour." Said the blond with a bright smile, causing the twins to snicker.

"Alright, I specialize on Kenjutsu and ninjutsu too." Said Atsui.

"With a temperature fixation." Deadpanned Hanabi. "Anyway, I specialize mostly on ambush, trap making and tracking, with secondary focus on close combat, both with a shortsword and a kunai, and hand to hand. I study botanic to increase my proficiency through the use of poison."

"I focus on tracking and disabling targets." Said Hinata. "I also trained as a chakra sensor, but my main strength is in taijutsu, with a secondary focus on long range lightning jutsu. I also have basic training in medical ninjutsu."

Kakashi nodded. "So, you have a tracking, capture and assassination team with a heavy hitter added in just in case things go out of hand, while I have an assault team. Hmm, that ought to be interesting."

Hinata perked up and activated her Byakugan. "Five ships coming, pirates, they seem to have taken prisoners this time. They'll be here in two hours."

Kakashi swore under his breath. Yugito seemed to think for a bit. "Kakashi-san, do you know the Shadow Clone technique? Hanabi will need to work fast and she'll need to have all the ingredients brought to her at once."

Kakashi nodded, and just as he summoned five clones, Naruto summoned twenty.

"The more the merrier. So, what do we need to look for?"

Hanabi smiled wickedly.

* * *

The pirates were still blissfully drunk when a light yellow cloud settled over the town. They didn't pay it any mind; clouds of pollen were relatively common with the amount of plants in the area. When a few of them began to cough, they didn't really worry either, neither did they when two or three fell, gurgling, in a puddle of thick liquid, it was common for them to throw up. However, when they all began to cough out blood, they began to worry and even panic when they realized they were all dying. But it was too late, and they died before they could do anything. An unnatural breeze swept across the town, sending the cloud in the upper parts of the atmosphere before eight figures landed among the decimated pirates.

"The poison will loose all potency in the next three hours, unless it goes into a rain cloud and falls in someone's mouth before the time is up, it will do no damage." Said Hanabi.

Sasuke looked around the port, honestly ticked off. That wasn't a way of fighting worthy of an Uchiha, they had died without even having a chance to survive, without a chance to fight. It left him uneasy. Sakura on the other hand was positively horrified. She couldn't look away from the fear-stricken faces of the dead pirates, their faces frozen in expressions of pain and fright, their empty eyes boring into her very soul accusatingly. Her breathing picked up, her eyes were wide, darting from one body to another. Suddenly, a hand on her shoulder forced her to look away and into the eye of her teacher.

"Sakura, death is a reality of our trade and it can be messy like now. Breathe deeply, and remember that they deserved it. They killed and raped innocent villagers for years, and now they paid for it. Alright?"

Sakura nodded weakly, and tried to get a grip of herself. It was glaringly obvious that Kakashi would have to talk to her later on, but right now they didn't have time. Sakura looked at Hanabi with a slight twinge of fear.

"W-what did you put i-in the p-poison?"

"Two fifth of hemorrhagic poison to kill, two fifth of neurotoxins to reduce their movement and numb them, and one fifth of paralytic to stop thoracic movement, thus ensuring maximum accumulation of blood in the lungs. Since the poison was airborne, the lungs were the first affected, they drowned in their own blood." Said Hanabi dispassionately, looking at the bodies with clinical interest. "If it can comfort you, the neurotoxins also destroyed their nerves in their lungs, they didn't suffer … much. Hmm, it seems to be especially effective, sensei, would it be possible to harvest some more plants? If possible I'd like to have some seeds to set up a garden and make some spare poison."

Yugito nodded, but a small frown was on her face. "Hanabi, Hinata, you seem to take this awfully well."

"Why should we give any importance to their lives?" Asked Hinata calmly, looking at the bodies in slight disgust. "We didn't know them, they were monsters, and despite that, sister gave them a relatively painless death. We have no reason to feel guilty."

"Maybe we should prepare the ambush instead of talking like that?" Offered Naruto.

The creek was nothing more than an indentation in the cliffs, hidden by jagged spires of rock rising from the ocean and there was there as a large rock arch above the entrance of the creek. Kakashi, wanting to see what his student would come up with, decided to give him an occasion to express his 'creative mind'.

"I take it you have an idea Naruto?"

"Yeah. There are five ships, we have two jonin and six genin. Each jonin takes a ship; the last three ships are spread between the genin in teams of two. Placing the sisters together seems quite obvious, and I would advise either me or Sasuke with Sakura, and the last with Atsui-san."

"Are you calling me weak?" Growled Sakura.

"No, but you just went through a traumatic event, and might freeze up after your first kill, I'd rather place you with someone I know can protect you until you snap out of it than with someone whose capacities I know nothing of. I do not mean to insult your abilities Atsui-san, it is a matter of peace of mind."

"No worry, I understand. So, who am I gonna work with? Blondie or Broody?"

Now Sasuke was hesitating. Atsui was beginning to act all smartass like Naruto, but on the other hand Sakura would piss him off to no end if he saved her.

"It's alright Sasuke, go with Atsui-san, at least he won't ask you out if you save his ass, unless you swing that way of course." Said Naruto with a smirk.

Atsui answered with a small laugh. "Nope. So, we're good?"

Yugito and Kakashi looked at each other and nodded. Quickly, the teams went to the rock arch and waited for their preys. The fabrication of the poison had taken some time, so the five ships should arrive shortly. Looking at his right, Naruto tried to evaluate Sakura's state of mind.

"Sakura."

"Hmm?"

"If you think you won't be able to go through with this all, don't hesitate to say it, there's nothing shameful in knowing your own limits."

"… Naruto … How do you cope so easily with all this death?"

"My life was beyond shitty. I had my first kill when I was six, a pedophile, but I blocked it all out until recently. Remember Mizuki from the Academy?"

"Mizuki-sensei? Yes, of course."

"And remember all the mess the night after graduation?"

"Yes but … How is that linked?"

"On that night, Mizuki manipulated me into stealing a very important thing in the Hokage's office. He wanted to take it for himself and blame me in the process. I kicked his ass, but during this whole shit, I unlocked quite a few … unpleasant memories, including my first kill. And much more. When I remembered the face of the guy I killed, I freaked out, completely. I wasn't able to function correctly for three days, and that's because Danzo-sama gave me a lil' pep talk. My point is, death is inevitable in our job. The sooner you accept it, the better."

Sakura nodded slowly her head. She hadn't imagined that Naruto could have had such a difficult life; she only saw the bright and idiotic façade, never going deeper. She looked at the Hyuga twins, wondering if their cold acceptance of death was also a result of their lives. As if sensing her thoughts, Hanabi looked at her and smiled. But her smile felt hollow, empty, fake.

"Wondering why we don't care about all the blood?"

Sakura nodded.

"Tell me, do you know what a jinchuriki is?"

"Hanabi."

"Oh please Yugito, it's not like the fox ears and tails aren't giving it away, we didn't have that when we were abducted. It is, after all, one of Kumo's wonderful gifts to us." Said the young Hyuga bitterly, causing the elder blond to stay silent.

"Heh. So, you know what it is?"

Sakura shook her head weakly.

"You see the Biju, like Kyubi? It's no use killing them, they reform. So mankind went for the next best thing, sealing them. And since these masses of chakra are beyond badass, a simple thingy wouldn't be enough. So they're sealed in people, those are jinchuriki."

"I-is that … What you and your sister are?"

"Nope, a jinchuriki isn't supposed to take on characteristics from the biju they jail."

"Wait, if a Biju is too strong to be killed." Said Sasuke. "What happened to Kyubi?"

Naruto snorted. "Guess who's the lucky guy that was born that night?" He said darkly. "S-class secret, talking about it is punishable by death; my life is shitty enough with 75% of the adults glaring me to death."

Sasuke looked at Naruto with wide eyes, shocked beyond belief. Yugito on the other hand looked sympathetic. "You can tell the fox that Matatabi said hi."

Naruto seemed to space out for an instant before refocusing. "Kyubi says hi too. *snort* And that he didn't forgot the catnip beer."

Yugito facepalmed and muttered something, causing all those around to look in either surprise or amusement.

"Naruto, should you have mentioned an S-class secret in front of a foreign team?" Asked Sasuke cautiously.

"Yugito-san already knew, we container can immediately tell when another is nearby. The only mystery was which biju we held." Yugito nodded in agreement.

"Alright, let me get this straight." Said Sakura. "My teammate has some oversized seal on him with the Kyubi behind it, Yugito-san also has a biju and said biju apparently gets high on catnip? Okay. But then, what are you two?"

"Failed pseudo-jinchuriki. You see, Kumo had two idiots who tried to kill the nidaime Raikage, Ginkaku and Kinkaku, the gold and silver brothers. These two also tried to take on the Kyubi when it was still free, and ended up swallowed. They fed on the fox's stomach for some time until it just threw up and put them back out, but the idiots had gathered some of its chakra in them. They were pseudo jinchuriki, with independent pieces of Kyubi's chakra trapped in them, like some sort of smaller Kyubi, I believe the max they had was seven tails. Anyway. After their failed coup d'état, they were captured, and jailed. Kumo looked for a way to use their power. And then, one day, they abducted two cute little girls from Konoha."

From then, Hinata took over. "We were precious to Kumo, they needed us to be as resilient as possible, so they thought that associating the Kyubi's chakra with our Byakugan would be a good way to ensure we would survive as long as possible to pop out a shit load of little babies and reverse-engineer Jyuken. They were confident in their ability to brainwash us into being loyal to Kumo. We were four when they sealed it in us. Ten hours of pain, non-stop. And they failed massively with the sealing. The fox's chakra reacted strangely with ours, and as it coursed through our chakra coils, it mutated us into what we are now. After that, they tried the brainwashing, and ironically, the fox's chakra forbade it. We were completely resistant to any brainwashing they tried. In such cases, the standard procedure is to make the people braindead, that way you can still use the genes but you don't have to worry about any resistance. But they had invested too much in us, and extracting the fox's power would have killed us. Not to mention it would have failed since it fused with ours. So they decided to see if they could persuade us to be loyal to Kumo."

Hanabi began talking again. "They placed us in the care of people who had similar plight, Kumo's two jinchuriki, Yugito and Bee, but after the sealing we had associated A's face with pain, so we mistrusted them, and basically everyone in Kumo. In the Cloud, people look at us either like we must be raped on sight or like we're failed experiments who should have been put to death, and there's a group that regularly tries to hurt us. The constant ass-whooping Konoha inflicted on Kumo didn't help, since these idiots blamed it all on us. We needed some way of retaliation, and we went for pranks. But not the harmless pranks, each and every one of them was obviously designed to kill, but made with non-lethal material. That way we 'killed' half of Kumo's chunin forces, three quarters of their jonin, the whole Academy, students included, the Raikage and the whole council, along with three of the five great clans in Kumo. Strangely, after that, we began to be left in peace a lot more."

"Basically, we had to fight every day for our peace." Said Hinata softly. "And during our years in Kumo, we also had to kill quite a few people who tried to hurt us. Hardship and bloodshed are two old friends to us, so it doesn't really bother us. Now, you probably understand why we don't care about killing. We don't know them, they are just threats to our existence and as all threat, they have to be eliminated." Finished the young girl coldly.

Kakashi looked at Yugito uneasily. "Your village really did a number on them."

"Don't remind me. It makes me sick each time I think about it. I still don't understand what went through A's head when he decided to have them abducted. I don't think I'll ever understand. Oh, well, these two have taken their revenge. Throughout the Academy, and even a little before, they literally swamped him with paperwork."

"How can some paper be dangerous?" Asked Sasuke sceptically.

"Simple, brat." Answered Yugito. "They caused so much trouble every day that A had to spend all his life in his office, with barely three hours to sleep. He didn't go home at all in the last four years. I heard he's considering his workload right now to be a vacation."

Hinata and Hanabi smirked smugly, proud of their handy work before Hinata activated her Byakugan again.

"They're almost there."

They lapsed into silence, waiting for the ships to appear. Once all five ships were in sight, they quickly assigned each group or jonin to a ship, and jumped down.

While falling, Kakashi took out two kunai and threw them, killing tow pirates, he then whipped out five shuriken, eliminating as many thugs. The ship was quite small, he had already eliminated half of the crew. Landing nimbly on the deck, he darted toward the nearest pirate, smashing his throat with his fist before throwing two new kunai, killing two men and throwing them into the waters. One of the four survivors charged him with his sword raised high, screaming a wordless battlecry, Kakashi simply hit him in the jaw before tearing his sword from his grasp and slamming it in his guts with enough force to send the man flying off the ship when he let go of the handle. Kakashi jumped high to avoid a knife thrust, landing on the wielder's neck with all his weight, snapping it instantly. Kakashi looked at the two cowering survivors for a moment, before slamming his foot on the deck, causing both of the knives of his latest victim to fly off and into his palms, then threw them at the two pirates' faces.

Yugito enlarged her fingernails, turning them into sharp claws and landed nimbly on the ship's stern before darting forward. Channelling lightning chakra into her claws, she beheaded the apparent captain and one of his men, delivered a spinning kick to a man's jaw, not paying attention to the wet crack that followed, before gazing across the ship. _'twelve.'_ Retracting her claws, she dug in her pouch, taking out four kunai and throwing them, each knife finding a different target. Dashing forward again, she elongated her claws again and bisected two more pirates before spinning around an axe slash, slashing open the throat of the man as she finished spinning. As her rotation ended, she darted towards the last five pirates, huddled together in hope that number would save them. It did the opposite. With three passes of her claws, they laid on the deck, mangled and bloody remains. Looking at the other ships, she smiled, the battle was ending.

Hinata and Hanabi left the rocky surface of the arch with a massive push, summoning to the surface the wilder part of their chakra. Their features became more feral, their eyes narrowed, their small fangs grew a bit and their nails darkened and sharpened. Landing on the bow of the ship, they startled the pirates. Dashing forward, Hinata delivered a chakra enhanced kick to the face of the closest pirate, breaking his neck, while Hanabi unsheathed the shortsword strapped to her back and slashed open the throat of another. Hinata jumped high and Hanabi ran low. Hanabi threw her sword into the heart of a pirate before jumping at head height and driving her palm into another's face, sending a burst of her unusually potent chakra to liquefy the man's brain. Hinata fell into a cluster of three men, lashing out before she even reached the ground. One strike hit a man's head, killing him on the spot; another turned a heart into a piece of charred flesh, and her last strike obliterated both of her victim's lungs. All three fell to the ground, the last one holding his chest, not understanding why he couldn't breathe anymore. Hinata threw three kunai, killing three pirates and covering her sister's advance. As Hanabi passed near the body of the man with her sword in his chest, she grabbed the handle and pulled it out, never slowing down. As she reached the three survivors, she ducked under a clumsy sword strike before driving her blade into the man's skull. Spinning to free her weapon, she brought it down on another's knee, cutting it clean. As the man fell, screaming, she carved his neck in two before kicking the handle of his knife, still in midair, sending it into the last man's head.

Sasuke and Atsui pushed off the rock and landed directly on top of two pirates, crushing their spines. Sasuke darted to the stern, Astui to the bow. Astui unsheathed his sword in one fluid movement, carving through the chest of a pirate, from left shoulder to right hip. Dashing forward, he slashed at a man, taking his head, before rolling under a double thrust of swords. Passing between his assailants, he spun while rising to his feet, cutting them both in half, before completing his rotation and dashing to his next target. With a rising strike, he carved the man in two, spinning on his heels and stabbing his sword through his next opponent's jaw, piercing the brain. With a tug, he freed his blade and jumped, beheading his last target. Sasuke jumped from his victim's neck, unsheathing the chokuto strapped across his lower back. As he neared the deck, he swung his blade at the shocked pirates, beheading two of them in one swipe. As soon as his foot touched the wood, he was moving again, cutting a pirate in two, spinning around the falling body and the blood, cutting off another man's arms before kicking the handle of the sword, sending it through the man's head before he could scream. Sasuke looked at the three survivors, among which was the captain. Moving faster than they could react, he charged them, taking out two shuriken and throwing them, killing the two goons while he jumped past the captain. As he landed, the man's head fell from his shoulders. Atsui and Sasuke looked at one another from across the ship, and smirked.

Sakura breathed deeply as she fell to battle, closed her eyes, and locked herself away. When she reopened her eyes, all that remained was logic, and one objective: Kill the targets. Cocking her fist back, she swung it at a fast approaching pirate, hitting his jaw with devastating force and sending him flying off the ship. Twisting, she placed her feet on the deck, landing softly. Naruto landed too and darted forward, unsheathing his blades in a cross slashing movement, cutting a pirate into four separate parts. Darting forward, the two genin met three pirates. Sakura jumped, delivering a chakra enhanced kick to the man's face, sending him flying across the ship, shards of bone and droplets of blood trailing after him. Naruto joined his blades into his staff and spun, cutting his enemy's legs with one blade and his neck with the other. Sakura, taking advantage of the last man's shock drove her fist into his ribs, sending him crashing into the rock cliff and peppering his organs with his fragmented ribs. Charging forward, the two teens exploited their opponents' horror and fear to its fullest. Naruto, being faster, threw himself in the middle of the fight, spinning wildly, beheading a man, cutting another one in two and slashing open the chests of two others, causing them to cough blood and choke, leaving them opened for Sakura's devastating punches. The two men took the attack straight in their solar plexuses, but there was such strength behind the strike that their chests simply caved in and their backs exploded, sending a gory shrapnel of ribs and vertebras bits to pepper the four survivors. Naruto charged forward, his staff spinning, and took two more heads before stabbing a man in the heart. The last man tried to leave, running to the bow to jump in the waters, but Sakura took a sword laying on the deck, threw it lightly in the air and slammed her fist in the butt of the handle, sending the sword sailing at high speed into the man's back, across the creek, and nailing the criminal to a wall of the harbour.

Looking at the other ships, the ninja saw that the battle had ended. 30 seconds was all it took, but all five ships were now under their control. After a last inspection of each ship, it was confirmed that all pirates had been killed.

* * *

The five ships had been guided to the port and the prisoners freed and fed. Kakashi and Yugito went to a nearby village to ask for help to evacuate the captured villagers, leaving the genin to watch over them. Naruto looked at the families, huddled together, hugging each other, crying in joy, revelling in the knowledge that their loved ones were safe. He felt cold. Seeing all this happiness just reminded him of his life, of what he missed. He wondered, yet again, what it would feel like to have parents, even just one, just … to have someone to love him unconditionally. Looking to his right, he saw Sasuke's impassive face, but in the avenger's eyes, a glimmer of jealousy laid. With a sigh, Naruto returned his gaze to the crowd bellow. He wondered what would have happened had his life been different. Would he have ended up as some sort of evil lord with an army of imp like thingies and a massive perverted streak? _'… Naah, I'm thinking too much into that.'_ Hinata suddenly landed near them, surprising them a bit.

"Four ships coming, completely full of people. Kakashi-san and Yugito-sensei are with them. Looks like our mission will soon be over."

Naruto nodded and summoned some clones to tell the families below that their ticket back to a normal life was coming their way.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen was a calm man, but what he was reading was beyond shocking. He snapped his fingers, causing an ANBU to appear.

"Bring me Hyuga Hiashi."

* * *

Yugito and Kakashi were sitting on the bow of a ship, behind them a group of sailors and fishermen were waiting to reach the harbour to take control of the pirate ships and bring back to the main land the stolen goods and abducted people. Yugito looked at Kakashi, trying to assess him, and overall failing. She knew he was good, very good, one of Konoha's best, but he just gave off the impression of a lazy idiot who left one of his students do all the work.

"Kakashi-san, I noticed you give a lot of power to Naruto."

"Why, yes, you wouldn't believe how fun life can be with this kid. He's probably the only person that could try to paint a room with a bucket of paint and an explosive tag and actually succeed. Yes, he did."

"An exploding tag? That's insane! How did he not ruin the room?"

"It was low power."

"Even so, the shards of the bucket should have pierced the walls!"

"Yes, that's what shocked me, not only were the walls perfectly painted, but the bucket was also intact. For the life of me, I can't guess how he did that." Said Kakashi, looking up from his book with a puzzled look in his eye. "And he's being mean and refuses to tell me." Said the elite jonin with a pout in his voice, and if the deformation of his mask was anything to go by, on his lips as well.

"Back on topic. *sigh* In short you give him that much power for fun."

"Not exactly. I believe he'll make a fine leader later on, so by letting him take the initiative, I give him the opportunity to gather experience. I'll only step in when I feel his plan won't be good enough, though that didn't happen yet."

"Do you do the same with the Uchiha?"

"I would if he took the initiative more often, but he doesn't. I guess I'll have to talk to him about it eventually. Maybe later, he doesn't really seem to be ready to me."

"Are you talking about his tendency to glare at anything that even remotely offends him?"

"That and more. You'll see what I mean if you stick around long enough, it's just a tad bit too complicated to put in words."

When the ships entered the harbour, they saw the prisoners organized neatly on the docks and the genin spread out across the roofs, keeping watch. Yugito nodded in satisfaction.

"They did their job well."

"Of course they did, they were well trained. At least, mine were." Said Kakashi with a teasing smirk.

"Screw you Hatake." Answered a slightly amused Yugito.

* * *

The ships docked and the sailors quickly spread between the pirate ships while the refugees boarded. The fleet left the harbour after Naruto carefully noted the place on the map. They reached the closest village in barely a few hours, but the night was already falling. All the shinobi were gathered on one ship, relaxing, talking or thinking.

Sakura was at the bow, looking at the approaching village, a distant and almost dead expression on her face. She turned her head when she heard someone sit next to her, and noticed it was Naruto. Looking around, she saw the Hyuga sisters talking animatedly and noting things on a paper sheet, Sasuke and Atsui relaxing and talking about something, noticing the slight smile and Sasuke's face and the fact he seemed to take Atsui's words into consideration, Kakashi and Yugito were also relaxing, leaning against the railing of the ship and reading identical orange books.

"How?"

Naruto hummed in surprise. He had expected to be the one to begin the conversation, but it could work that way too.

"How do you all deal with death so easily?"

"Well, no need mentioning the jonin and you know for Hina-chan and Hana-chan. For Sasuke, after the Uchiha massacre, he probably spent hours thinking about killing his brother for slaughtering his clan, so he had years to get used to the idea of killing, the actual act didn't really bother him because of that."

"… And you?" Asked Sakura after a moment of silence.

"I'm … complicated." Said Naruto with a bitter smile. "You heard people call me Kitsune, right? Well that was the mask I choose in the Gauntlet, an underground arena built by Danzo-sama. He takes promising students and trains them while keeping them in the normal circuit. The thing is, for a long time, Kitsune and Naruto … were two different people."

Sakura looked at him with wide eyes. "Y-you mean to tell me … that you have double personality disorder? "

"Had. Not anymore. Kitsune and the Old Naruto began to merge during the Mizuki incident, and the merging finished the night we left Gai's team."

Sakura nodded her head in acceptance. "Is that why you were … so snappy and … unstable … during the first month of the team?"

"Yeah. The two merging personalities were basically opposites. Naruto was completely positive, happy-go-lucky, slightly dumb and with absolutely no focus. Kitsune was focused, talented, ruthless and had murderous tendencies. The merging didn't go so smoothly at first and I could shift from one mindset to the other in a matter of seconds. Kitsune had a deep seated hatred of you, so that's why I was so cold and demeaning."

"Why did he hate me?"

"Probably had something to do with your numerous gifts to me in the form of concussions."

Sakura looked at him wide-eyed, horrified that she had actually done that.

"B-but … If I hurt you, why didn't you say anything?"

"Several reasons. First, I healed so fast I didn't have time to worry about it, I just thought it was some small headache that disappeared soon, second my old dumb self didn't know that people aren't supposed to heal that fast so it didn't strike him as uncommon, and third he had a crush on you and would have died sooner than cause you trouble."

Sakura nodded her head slowly, remorse visible in her eyes.

"Now, you asked how I dealt with death so easily I believe. Well, I don't. Those guys weren't my first kills, but it still shakes me quite a bit, so I rationalize. Besides, I received special training in the Gauntlet on how to accept my first kill more easily."

Silence fell between the two as Sakura pondered his words. She accepted the truth for what it was; these men were filth and deserved to die, and at least she didn't have to look in their eyes as they died. Once she looked at the situation from a rational point of view, she immediately began to feel better. Looking at her team-mate, she realised she didn't know anything about him, she had assumed that, despite the changes, he was still the dumb idiot from the Academy, and only now did she realise how wrong she had been.

"You were right." She said softly.

Naruto answered with a cocky smile. "Yeah, I often am." He said, causing Sakura to snort. "So, you doing better now?" He asked more seriously.

"Yeah. But I wasn't only talking about that. You were right; I was a complete and stupid fangirl. Old habits die hard, but I'll try to change, I have to."

Naruto nodded in approval. "You're growing up."

"Why did you say 75% of the adults hate you? Hokage-sama must have had shinobi explain your situation, right? So why do they hate you? Do they see you as the Kyubi reborn?"

"No, the village isn't populated by retards; the few people who actually saw me as the Kyubi reborn were dealt with extremely fast. They hate me because I am a reminder. When they think of me, they think of the Kyubi, and what they lost because of it. They hate the fact they cannot forget this pain. My only option is to make it so when they think of me they stop thinking of something else, to make them think of me as a human being, a person. Whirlpool is a way to do that, becoming Hokage was one too." Naruto looked up into the darkening sky. "There's another problem. A jinchuriki can be an extremely powerful being, a good example would be Han of the Steam Armour of Iwa, he is one of the strongest ninja alive, strong enough to fight the Yondaime Hokage to a stalemate."

"W-what? He is … that powerful?"

"Yeah, and he only got the Gobi."

"He must be Tsuchikage if he is so strong."

"Nope. That's the trick. We are also seen as time bombs ready to explode, and because of that we are ostracized. Han hates Iwa with a passion, he loath the Rock, and has for a very long time, so they placed a seal on him to forbid him from attacking Iwa shinobi. Anyone else is free game. Loyalty is always a tricky issue."

Sakura nodded, beginning to understand a bit more.

"So, you're both a risk and an asset to Konoha. If so, why would they allow you to be mistreated? Or why didn't they train you early on?"

"A jinchuriki isn't your classic ninja, emotions play a big role. If you feel isolated, you begin to give in, and with a container, the results can be disastrous, so the Old Man tried to give me a normal childhood and the occasion to make friends. Didn't work so well. Kiba became an ass, Shikamaru is to lazy to stick up for me, and Choji is way too insecure about his weight to defend me without being afraid of being ridiculed too."

"Why not try with other people? I'm pretty sure Shino would have understood."

"That's where it gets funny. To make sure my childhood was normal, I wasn't even told about the Kyubi in my guts, and I had to find out the hard way. So, for the longest time, I saw Shino as creepy, even if I felt kinship because of his loneliness, so I didn't talk to him, and ended up lonely myself. As for the others … Well, you know just how popular I've always been."

Sakura frowned. She remembered all too well. Then something struck her. Naruto had no reason whatsoever to be nice to her, she had been a bitch from day one to him.

"Why are you helping me? Or being so honest to me?"

"Because, like it or not, we're a team. If you know a bit more about me, maybe you can understand how I work and the team will only get better. Then, you are one of my comrades, so I have to help you mature faster. I don't think we've ever been friends, and I'm not sure we can ever be, but at least we can respect each other, especially now that you dropped the fangirl thing."

Sakura nodded. After a few minutes of silence, Naruto looked around and saw something that made him smile.

"Hey, Sasuke, Atsui."

Everyone turned to look at Naruto, then at the two, and noticed the two swordsboys had each other's swords in hand and were talking about the blades and comparing their qualities. Well, before Naruto interrupted, now they just had their hands on the blades.

"Two boys caressing each other's sword … Something you wanna tell us?" Said Naruto with a teasing smile. Sakura repressed a snort, Hanabi snorted loudly, Hinata left out a giggle, Kakashi raised an eyebrow, a spark of amusement in his eye, and Yugito smirked.

Atsui and Sasuke remained impassive, then looked at each other in the eyes … Before grabbing the back of the other's head and kissing wildly. That stopped everyone. They quickly separated and looked at Naruto. Sasuke smirked while Atsui burst into laughter with a loud "Gotcha!"

Then, Sakura surprised everyone. "OOOOOOOH YEEAAH!" She screamed with wide eyes to take in the scene better, a massive perverted smile and the mother of all nosebleed. A second round of laughter followed, with only Sasuke not joining in, in fact the Uchiha heir paled considerably when he realised he had just given wet dream material to one of his fiercest fangirls.

'_Brother, does this count as a miserable life?'_

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes to find himself in the sewers where he met Kyubi for the first time, and in front of him was said Biju, still behind the bars of his jail. Only, the fox was grinning like a madma… err … like a madfox. Looking around, he saw Hinata and Hanabi looking around in surprise, before their gaze fell on him.

"Naru-kun, what the heck? One moment we're going to sleep, the next we're here." Said Hanabi.

"Well, I can't really explain. It seems that your connection to Kyubi here." He said, pointing at the fox. "Allowed him to pull you in my mindscape, so I think it's safe to say that he is the cause for those blurry dreams we shared."

"**Correct young one. Now, I have been trying to pull those two here for quite some time, but only succeeded tonight, it is good, for we have a lot to discuss."**

"Yeah, for instance, what are you going to do about them? You said we'd see once we met those two presences you were talking about, and I guess they are Hina-chan and Hana-chan. So, what course of action?"

"**Well, now that we are closer, I could study more the way their chakra reacts. It is quite interesting."**

"How so Kyubi-sama?" Asked Hinata politely.

Kyubi nodded appreciatively at the young girl's politeness. **"It seems that Kumo's attempt to turn you into pseudo-jinchuriki had unforeseen consequences. Your usual chakra and mine partially fused, and it impacted your whole DNA. For the sake of clarity, I must ask, do you know of the different types of chakra?"**

"You mean the elemental affinities?" Asked Hanabi, confused.

"**No, not quite. At first, there were two types of energies. Natural energy and what you could call chaotic energy. While the first is quite passive and peaceful, the second was far more agitated. Natural energy still exists nowadays, though in very small quantities. Choatic energy on the other hand disappeared, or more accurately, transformed."**

"So what, there a nice energy and a bad energy?" Ased Hanabi doubtfully.

"**Ah, you misunderstand. Both were completely neutral from a moral point of view. It's just that chaotic energy was far more … active. It couldn't just exist like that, so it slowly seeped into creatures and formed big pools of boiling energy. The two energies were incapable of melding at first, but sentient life changed that. The humans found some of those pools of both energies, and began to use them for rituals."**

"How do you know all that Kyubi-sama? Are you a scholar?" Asked Hinata in wonderment, cocking her head to a side.

"**In a way, yes. I studied some of the human settlements before the time of my birth, and felt that there used to be huge amounts of energy nearby, so I drew the logical conclusions. Anyway, as I said, these pools were used for rituals that prefigured the use of chakra. I saw a few of those early altars along with remains of rituals around. But I digress, back on track. Through those rituals, the humans absorbed some of both energies, and began to mix them inside themselves before expelling them. In time, this caused a massive shift in the balance of both energies with the creation of a primitive chakra."**

"And you were born from that shift?" Asked Naruto curiously.

Kyubi chuckled. **"No kit, not yet. Several beings made of pure energy were born, one example would be Inari, the kami of harvests, or Susanoo. So yes, the Kami do exist, they just don't act directly. They were mostly born from natural energy, with the Shinigami being an exception and being born mostly from chaotic energy and a slight mix of natural energy. There was only one being that was born from chaotic energy alone, the Juubi, the ever shifting Ten-tails, rumoured to have twice as many forms. This creature was wild, destructive, and utterly impossible to control. The Kami first trapped him in another realm, but foolish humans helped it escape. So, the Kami decided that it had to be eliminated in the only way they knew could work: by forcibly melding it with natural energy. For this purpose, they elected a champion, a man that was a priest, one of great power and pure heart, that preached peace and unity against the threat of the beast. That man became later known as the Rikudo Sennin. Wielding natural energy and the gifts of the Kami, he battled the beast over land and sea, and finally defeated it, subjugating it ad forcing it into submission by sealing it into his own body."**

"Ah, I think I understand!" Exclaimed Hinata. "This is why the Sage is credited with the discovery of chakra! He used the Juubi's energy and melded it with the natural energy the Kami taught him to wield, thus creating chakra and forcibly calming the chaotic beast."

"**You catch on quick, young one. Yes, that was the plan, but the Juubi's mind had been marked by chaos, and could not be appeased. And since the process didn't go fast enough, the Sage had no choice but to reach out to others, to help him in his task. To reward them, he bestowed upon them the gift of knowledge, teaching them how to create chakra of their own while releasing natural and chaotic energy around them to allow them to create the chakra. The more students he had, the faster it went, yet his whole life wasn't enough."**

"I doubt the man would simply await death without a plan B."

"**Right you are Kit. *chuckle* Old man Rikudo was a smart one, and he believed in preparation. He split the Juubi into nine beings, the Biju. But, his death approaching, his control slipped, and we were born unequally gifted in both energies, and it impacted our minds. For instance, Shukaku, the Ichibi, had a massive amount of chaotic energy, and the result was a massively unstable mind. On the other hand, Son Goku, the Yonbi, was born with an excess of natural energy, giving him a meditative nature. I was one of them, and mere minutes after our birth, we had to see the one we considered our father die. It was sad, but we knew he had a good life. It is regrettable that his sons didn't put their differences aside and began fighting for leadership, because it was the first hit to the peace Old Man Rikudo had instated, and it only got worse from there. But that is for another time."**

"I take it that chakra coils appeared later, somewhere along the line." Stated Hanabi.

"**Yes, they did. With the Old Man's death, a lot of chaotic energy was released, but it didn't cause too much of a fuss, with his many students around to steadily meld it with natural energy. With time, chaotic energy disappeared, and only a small piece of natural energy remained. In their stead, there was the energy used in Senjutsu, the nature chakra. That leads back to the different types of chakra that exist. Depending on the balance of natural and chaotic energy at their creation, the chakra are different, with different levels of potency."**

"But, Kyubi-sama, what of the chakra in our coils?" Asked Hinata. "Is it not produced by our cells?"

"**No, not exactly, it is transformed by your cells. When you absorb food, you also absorb the nature chakra in it, and it is then processed by your cells in two different ways. Most cell produce an equal amount of spiritual and physical energies, while muscle produce only physical energy and neurones produce only spiritual energies. And that brings me to the different types of chakra. Nature chakra is everywhere around you, you are so used to it that you don't pay any attention to it, and you need harsh training to actually feel it and use it. It is extremely potent and elementally neutral, but is watered down and marked by an element by your bodies when processed. Human chakra, you know best, so I won't talk too much about it. Then, there is biju chakra, it differs from one biju to the other, but it is always very potent, more so than nature chakra. The more tails a biju has, the more potent their chakra is. Do you understand?"**

All three teens nodded thoughtfully. "So let me get this straight." Said Naruto. "they have two different types of chakra?"

"**Yes, they do. But so do you. Contact with biju chakra always cause minor mutations, for instance you, Naruto, produce some of the biju chakra coursing through your coils, but only a minute amount. Should I be removed from you, the amount would be too small to regenerate, and that is what is so different with Hinata-chan and Hanabi-chan. They can actually **_**produce **_**biju chakra, making them the first hybrids between a biju and a human. It should never have happened, but it did, and because of this, they are kin to me. Protect them, help them, and I will fight by your side willingly and support you with my strength."**

"Sounds good. Say, do you think you could also teach the girls a few things? That would help a heck lot."

Kyubi smiled widely. **"Most certainly. What do you say little ones?"**

"Heck yeah! Sign me in!"

"It would be a pleasure Kyubi-sama."

"**Kurama. My name is Kurama."**

"Alright, we'll remember it Kurama. By the way, you said you were sealed in my mother previously, is that why she appeared in our dreams a few times?"

"**That could be an explanation. I will have to explore this possibility. I can still sense her, but she is out of reach. Next time she visits your dreams, I will observe this more closely. Hopefully, I can get her out of her coma without you flaring my chakra or pouring it into her. We must be cautious on this, we don't want to harm her or cause a village-wide uprising."**

"Yes, I see what you mean. Kurama … Thank you."

"**Thank me when your mother will be holding you, Kit. Now, let us begin our lessons. First, a little change of scenery would be most appreciated."**

* * *

_**Author Note :**_

_And done! As you can see, Sakura is growing, because I think she can be useful, and even badass (if she goes the right way). Also, for the fans of Inner Sakura, I will find a use for her ^^_

_Also, I'm thinking about taking down my two one shots to put them in one 'story' that would be more like my one-shot fodder. What do you think about it?  
_

_I hope you liked this chapter ^^_


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